Promise of a River
by LadyRainStarDragon
Summary: Aburaya, Haku's Diary, Weird Dreams about Chihiro, The Quest to Get Through the Day. Can't forget Haku's Other Aspects. And all this just to get home! What goes on when I fade? Will she remember me?
1. When She Came, I Renewed My Vow

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

I own nobody in this story, they belong to Miyazaki.

Spirited Away from Kohaku's vantage point.

::Blows away evil zombieplot bunny with .22 gaugeafter correcting the blasted thing.:: Can't believe I screwed up those scenes.

* * *

I was up early as is usual. I don't sleep much anymore, although I couldn't really remembering having slept much before. My dreams were always unrestful, filled with a little girl, whose name I knew to be Chihiro. I had known the human child for a long time, although on waking I always laughed at my fantasy. As if I, Haku, had ever known a human, much less saved one. 

Yubaba, knowing my habits of not sleeping, unless I was wiped out from a hard mission, had sent me out to check out a disturbance at the border into her world. After taking care of the problem, I was to report back for tonight's mission.

I can remember clearly my walk out, as I was aggravated for a reason I could not fathom. Something was pulling at my being, urging it to race forward, as the scent of water will to a thirsty horse. This something did not seem to belong here, it's time was not yet.

"A train!"

The voice struck something deep within me as I passed through the curtain across the door. I walked out on the bridge to get a closer look at the child who ran to the other side of the bridge, hoping for a better glance of the rail snake. She was so familiar somehow, and I paused just a few steps away, stunned by the passing glimpse of a river, and the face of a child much younger than her. The Pearl in this girl was eerily similar to the child in my dreams of water and danger. Then, she turned her head.

Those eyes, brown as mud that once would squish between our toes and no longer containing the unfiltered shining light of her soul and instead hidden by her humanity, locked with mine. Surprise probably would have been an understatement of what she was feeling, I know it was for me. Although part of me was glad to see her and itching to wrap itself around her and plunge headlong into the endless depths of her eyes, another part was pained by a memory buried even deeper than those that haunted my dreams. Still another part felt the icy fingers of fear, as it whispered brokenly and barely audibly, 'I will protect and provide for her to the best of my ability.'

Hardening myself against the pain, I put on a mask of anger, drawing my brows into the scowl that would send so many servants running to their tasks. For good measure, and to partially allay the part of me that wished to touch her and see that she was real, I dashed forward, pushing her off of the bridge.

"You shouldn't be here. Get out of here. NOW!"

The stir of magic and buzz of electricity could be felt in the air, and turning about, the sight filled me with dread.

"They're lighting the lamps. You have to get across the river. Hurry! I'll distract them."

The child ran away, and I blew a few of my scales, to slow the river of time and hopefully allow her to escape. She was mine, and I had to protect her, but it must be subtle.

After giving her a good head start, I walked carefully through the town, searching for any other disturbances, hoping for something to cover up her brief presence. What I found did not give me hope, although it did fill me with annoyance. Two people were in one of the stalls, and undoubtedly were her parents, although now they held absolutely no resemblance. The large pigs in the overly tight human clothing did much to unnerve me, although I would never show it. Also, I could not believe that they had slipped up yet again in their protectorship of the child.

What confused me is how I knew they had made large mistakes before. Internally shrugging it off and placing it to the side, I took stock of the child's progress. I hoped she had made it across it time, but the river told me different. I was off again, and broke into a run once outside of the town, pausing only at the top of a hill for a quick scan. I found her huddled form quickly, cleverly hidden against a wall out of the sight of many of the approaching travelers.

I hurried to her side, and was disheartened to see that her form was already fading. Her translucence was lovely, a pinkish tone to her aura, but it was disturbing as she was still of the living. Reaching out, I put a hand on her shoulder, glad that it was still touchable to me, although it wouldn't be for long if I did not hurry.

"Don't be afraid, I just want to help you."

"No. NO."

She tried to defend herself, although I would never intentionally hurt her, she was too precious for that. Her hands passed right through my face, a very odd feeling. Apparently I could touch her, but not vice verse. When she calmed a bit, I began forcing a berry through her tightly closed lips. Even in great fear, she still had a strong will for a child.

"You have to eat some food from this world, or else you'll disappear. Now open your mouth, and eat this."

Seeing her reluctance, I tried to make a joke. That's what humans did to break the ice and feel at ease if memory served.

"Don't worry. It's not going to turn you into a pig."

Bad joke. Even I at times, could be totally tasteless. That had been one of my bigger slips. Maybe I would be lucky, and she hadn't seen the species confused humans. As she swallowed, I admired the workings of her throat, muscles undulating in turns downward like a wave. The magnificent pearlescense was fading, and she was again solid.

"My parents, they didn't really turn into pigs did they?"

So, I was right, this was all her parent's fault. I decided not to answer that completely.

"You can't see them now, but you will."

When I stood, I could feel eyes scanning the area. Apparently, my mistress had grown impatient and sent her familiar spirit out looking for me. Shielding the child's body with my own, I held still, the two of us concealed in the blanket of shadow, daring not to use an invisibility spell as it could feel magic. I could only hope as its eyes looked our way that it could not see through the shadows.

It passed, and I stood again, trying to pull the child with me. She didn't follow though, and I gave an experimental tug as she began to panic. I hated hearing it, it didn't suit what I knew was inside of her.

"Calm down. Take a deep breath."

She did, and I was proud of her then. You could keep a child from a shrine, but you couldn't take away the call. Pushing away the intruding thought, wishing my mind could be like a box and just stay locked at times, I muttered the releasing spell, breaking the lonely earth's hold on my child.

I stood again, letting her know she was free now, and I escorted her to the bridge, cautioning her that when we were crossing it, that she must hold her breath. Kaonashi was standing on the bridge, and I hoped that he would not see the little pearl I was defending. If he followed her, things could get ugly. Finally, we were almost across it when the little frog spirit became overly-exited that I had returned. He jumped at me, and I think he was going to plaster himself to me. Chihiro was surprised, and gasped, becoming visible again to the spirits.

Throwing a time-bubble to hold him, I grabbed Chihiro's hand and flew close to the ground, appearing as but a stiff breeze to the women whose skirts were ruffled by my passing. A few of them giggled in delight, thinking that I was merely showing off and sneaking a peek, and as I shut the hidden door, I was struck how gross and thick their legs were. They could just keep their gross thoughts in their heads where those things belonged.

We dashed through various areas, the human doing her best to keep up with my speed born of wind, wave, and current. At last, we reached my goal, the garden, where I hoped the scents of the blooms would overpower and hide the scent of eventual death and decay that cloaked her natural scent of cherries and a river long gone.

I told her what she needed to do, and was getting ready to go, when she grabbed my shirt to stop me. It surprised me, but somehow, I knew little hands had done much the same before. It was frustrating, half remembered memories calling to me, but always blacked out. She didn't want to be alone, and I couldn't blame her. Children were no longer as capable of caring for themselves, parents doing too much for them.

"How do you know my name?"

"I've known you since you were very small."

I had to go now. She needed a diversion to cover her until she got to Kamaji. I just hoped that she didn't fall for any of the old spider's tricks. Heading inside, I spun a story about how there were more humans out in the village. At least the story was true, and I couldn't very well leave her parents to fend for themselves. My problem now was figuring out a way to get them all home.

I answered Yubaba's summons, emerging from my hidden spot just outside the office. Carefully, I kept my face an empty mask as I was ordered to show her where she was to be. I asked her name, hoping that it hadn't been changed as mine had been. She started to say her true name, then caught herself. I could not tell if at this point it was the effect of a spell, or her desire to please the mistress.

"Chihi- oh. It's Sen."

Ok, well, at least it was close enough to her name that I could help her remember it instead of giving her a huge shock later. I wanted her away from here, where it would be safe.

"Come on."

She tried to ask me a question in the elevator, but I couldn't risk it looking like I already knew her. That would put her in more danger, and probably give the old witch some new ammunition to keep me in line if I started slacking off again or tried to escape.

"Don't talk to me, and address me as Master Haku."

It sounded cold and uncaring, but I had to keep her safe. Yubaba could be listening, this one was bugged.

I was relieved when I got her down to the worker's area. She was placed in the cleaner's department, under the care and tutelage of Lin, a spirit I knew that had nothing against humans. She was a bit of a prankster, but I couldn't really tell you what kind of spirit she was. Lin smelled too much of salt and the slug-women, and she may even have been masking her own smell. Nobody knew too much about the woman.

Yubaba kept me in the bath house that night, running inventory. The suspicious old witch probably just wanted to keep an eye on me. The slug she had tricked me into eating so long ago was very active that night. At dawn, she took off on some errand, but not before assigning my task. After she was gone, I shut off the light and went back downstairs. I would be able to get Chihiro to her parents sooner than I had thought.

I gave her a few hours, time to rest from her rough night (I heard later from Lin that a bad case of nerves had made her sick the first night) and then snuck into the women's dormitory where she would be. Beneath my fingers the shoji slid aside to reveal a sleeping room, and saw her shivering form pretending to be asleep beneath her blanket.

Making my way through the rivulets of empty spaces between sleeping female bodies, I realized I was seeing something many of the male workers would only dream of seeing. I saw no reason why they would pursue the stupid dream, it wasn't anything impressive. Finally, I was beside her, and laid my hand on where I thought her shoulder was, hoping to allay her fear.

"Meet me at the Bridge. I'll take you to your parents."

I shut the shoji behind me, and went to wait. I would hide myself, and keep an eye on Kaonashi while there. He could only go where invited, and if he accidentally got into the bath house, the greed that filled the halls like smoke would surely awaken something dark in him. For some reason, I feared greed taking its hold on him.

Chihiro soon appeared at the bridge, bowing cautious greetings to the faceless and forgotten Noh-Dancer as she passed him by. He watched her with interest, and I felt the strange emotion flare in my heart once more. It grew a little as she looked back to see if he was still there, and I realized that I did not like how other males looked at her. She was mine, my territory, my past and all that I had left that mattered.

She must have felt my presence as I came beside her, since she looked quickly to me, eyes wide and confused as a deer's, warming in that way that threatened to cause me to lose myself. Seeing her eyes made me smile, and I wanted to take her into some deep water and keep her with me, safe always. It was strange to me. I don't think I wanted to protect anyone since coming here. Perhaps it was only because she was a connection to my mostly forgotten past.

"Follow me."

We went through the gardens where our food was grown, fighting against barriers of plants. Once we were out, I warned her about what would happen if we were caught and if she were here alone. I could only pray she took it to heart. Quietly, I lead the way.

Outside of the pigpens, she hesitated to go into the shed. I wondered if she could sense the magic, or if she was merely afraid. Looking into the deep and yet depthless eyes of this mystery, I could see a grey light struggling to burst forth, her soul searching desperately for its true path. I nodded, and then she went in.

She was disturbed to see them sleeping so deeply that the only hint they lived was a flick and a breath, and I was glad she was facing them. Not even I could hide my displeasure with them. They had placed my possession into harm's way yet again, choosing instead to glut themselves like the pigs they now were. It would be a fitting end for them, but even they had some redeeming qualities somewhere. After all, they had brought Chihiro into her world, even though they had just quite effectively taken her out of it. I watched as she fled from the sight that caused her such distress.

'They had better take better care of her when they get home. If I see so much as one flaw develop on her soul, I don't think I'll be able to keep from eating them.'

Letting the emotion flow away, I followed the human child. I needed to comfort her.

I found her sitting beneath the bean flowers, trying not to cry. I put my arm around her, lending my strength, and allowing her to cry if she needed. It was unhealthy to stop your emotions, they had to flow. Offering her some onigiri, I was glad that I had the foresight to make some and place a strength spell on them. She would need it tonight. As she ate, the tears came.

It only lasted a few moments, and when she was done, her whole being smiled at me. Once more, the pathway to her soul lay clear, the grey mixed with brown that I remembered from my dreams covered with the sheen of cleansing water. Smiling, I drew her up, and rubbed her back a little as we walked. I opened the gate for her, and when I too was out, she looked at me.

"You're a good friend, Haku."

"Stay out of trouble, ok?"

Why did I want to say more? A bowed good-bye and she was off, back to bed if there was enough time before her shift. I took on my dragon form, and leapt into the sky. It was time to go on my mission. Yubaba wished to have her sister Zeniba's seal. Her goal was to control her sister, the feud started far before my arrival over some hidden slight.

I had to hurry, if I didn't have it back here before her arrival, it could be trouble for Chihiro. Somehow, I knew that Yubaba knew I was the one who had helped her. Distantly, I wondered if she was the reason I did not remember most of my life.

I heard that the night I was gone, we had a very important River God come, so polluted by litter, oil and the debris swept up in floods that he was mistaken at first for a stink spirit. It had happened during while I was gone on my 'secret mission', but somehow, I had vague impressions of what had happened, of nausea, muck, debris, and water.

When she fell in, no doubt slipping in the muck, I felt the oddest emotion I had ever felt, like someone was trying to steal what was mine. Even when he encased her in the bubble of water to prevent her from being swept away in the rush when all the pollutants were out I could feel it. The softly surprised and completely trusting expression as she stood wrapped in the Kami's water as it pressed a prize into her delicate rosebud hands did nothing to allay the situation.

'I should be the only one to elicit that look. Wait! What am I thinking? And why won't she stay out of my thoughts!'

I pushed the supposed fantasy away.

The waters that I flew over soothed my soul, and this short time I was able to escape, to be free. At least until I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. I knew of the curse upon the seal, but I didn't know what the curse was. This would require all my concentration, and my wiles. Unfortunately, I also knew it wasn't going to be a grab and run job, as Zeniba kept her seal in a pocket hidden somewhere in her skirts. I would have to talk to her and get her to bring it out.

Soon enough, I saw the cottage of SwampBottom. I passed under the gate, and landed in her yard. It was very nice, totally different from Yubaba's stronghold. I could see a simple garden, and the stone cottage looked very warm. Granite made fine homes.

The door opened, and I heard a voice.

"Come in, come in."

By this time, I was on two legs again instead of four, and I found them taking me into the den of the infamous witch. Den was a harsh description though. English country charm with just a hint of my native Japanese decor mixed in, hidden in hard to spot places and causing the raging storm of nervousness within me to fade to a peaceful stream of content. Looking around for the source of the voice, I found her behind the door.

"Sit down, I'll make us some tea. You can tell me what would bring my sister's assistant so far out here."

"I have heard many stories about you, and wished to see for myself if they were true."

"I see."

The witch looked at me, and I had the odd sensation of my own soul being drawn out and inspected. I hated the feeling, and felt dirty, as though I had failed at something and sought to hide it. Concentrating, I allowed the picture of a flowing river to hide the deep secret that had to remain buried. Zeniba smelled like she was annoyed at having been thwarted, but she hid it well.

"It seems there is a spell on you."

"In this world, it is rare to not have a spell on one."

"This is true."

"I have heard that your magic talisman takes the form of a seal you sign your papers with, as opposed to having your magic come from within. Is this true?"

"Only nature spirits or those closely aligned with nature have their powers come from within. Those of us who once were human and practiced magic have to focus it with the aid of objects or risk our consciousness being overrun by nature herself."

"I have never met someone who channels their power in that way. Would it be too much trouble to see this strange object?"

The woman seemed to find that funny. I hadn't lied though, I never have, at least to my knowledge.

"In this respect my sister and I are the same. I can't believe that you have trained so long with her and not noticed. Then again, she hides her seal just as carefully as I do. Here, but I want it back."

Trustingly, with the virtue that even her name meant, she handed it across the table for me to see. I held it and inspected it, truly puzzled as to why any being would need to channel power through an object. This was something my mistress had never taught me about. Then, through the window behind Zeniba, I saw her sister. Alarmed at being caught fraternizing with her enemy, I swallowed the seal, without a word of explanation to Zeniba for my rude departure. I knew I was in deeper danger than usual as I heard the grating voice of my mistress.

"There you are Haku! Give me and my sister our seals back!"

As I took to the skies, riding the air currents as if they were the waters of my mostly forgotten yet still longed for home, I wondered what she was talking about. I had only just swallowed Zeniba's seal in a severely botched robbery. Why would I take her magic anyway, I had only just learned she kept it outside herself.

It began to grow dark and cold, though I could still see. Nightfall wasn't close yet though. Then I realized, I had been set up. Yubaba's plan had been to kill me and get the seal, and I had played right into it. Suddenly, surrounded by sharp objects, that I thought were paper shikigami. I had to get home. If I died, who would protect Chihiro from remaining Sen forever.

The flight was long and hard, with several dives into the sweet water trying to lose the papers, hoping they were like the bloodhounds I had heard about. Each time was a disappointment as they found me again quickly. I even tried doubling back a few times, hoping to confuse them and make them uncertain of my direction of travel.

Eventually, when I was just about to give up, I heard the engines run by the boiler. By this time, I felt rather like a hair ribbon that had been worn and trimmed out so many times that it was ready to dissolve in the very fibers itself. I had just about given up hope of having the energy to escape these pests, when I heard her voice. I thought for a moment that I was already dead and in some mistake granted passage into Paradise.

"Haku! Fight 'em! You can do it!"

I plunged into the water again, rushing through the waters and flashing back to another time I was racing towards the strange child who somehow had my thoughts captive. Then, the waters themselves pushed me towards her, answering my call with the little they could do.

"Over here!"

Blindly, I headed towards the cherubic voice, and rammed right into a wall, effectively stopping myself, although now I had a headache to complement my abused hide and internal injuries from the damned seal trying to burrow its way out of my innards. The doors were closing, but one sounded like it was stuck. I saw her then, flailing blindly at the birds, trying to protect her head at the same time. This was wrong, I was the dominant male here and supposed to protect her!

Looking around to see if there was something I could use, I discovered myself in the women's dormitory yet again. The beds were all empty and seemed to have been hastily abandoned, and I hoped that it had not been because of me. Chihiro had gotten rid of the creatures, and turned to me in all of my currently blood covered glory. Surely she would be furious with me for disturbing their rest and sullying the room with my wretched thief's blood. Thanks to the things Yubaba had me do for her, that's all I was. I did not deserve to protect a being a pure as her.

Surprisingly, she tried to make her way toward me, worried that I was bleeding, and making it obvious she only wanted to help me. Then I remembered. I, Haku, had been cursed. What if I should spread it to her by merely associating with her. By allowing her to help me further, would it rub off on her. With my current state, I doubted very much if she had the guts to perform enkoujo, those claws would slice her hand to ribbons.

I did the only thing I could think of. I flung myself out of the window, and clumsily made my way to Yubaba's quarters. At least I could bleed all over that precious carpet of hers if she wanted me dead so bad.

After a few not so friendly encounters with the wall, I finally made it inside, making my way to her office and collapsing, making sure to land right on her favorite rug. It was gaudy anyway, and soft. She owed me something after that.

It was then that I realized just how bad this job was, and how underpaid I was. Assistants should get hazard pay for missions like that. Too bad I had nobody to leave my pay to. If I left it to Chihiro, Yubaba would get it anyway, she'd find some excuse.

I heard Yubaba come in, and she put something down on her desk. What it was, I did not have the strength to care.

"Very clever Haku. My last apprentice didn't even make it that far. Too bad you are going to die. You just had to swallow it though, didn't you. With all the acid in your stomach, there will be no way it will be safe for me to retrieve it, even after you are dead. At least my sister no longer has her amulet."

The phone rang, and I hoped it would be bad news for her. Maybe something like dying of some condition involving that large wart in the middle of her forehead. Something where the cells became damaged and spread the damage throughout her body.

Sadly enough for me, it was just about a bad customer. Then I heard that it was the monster, Kaonashi, wanting Sen. He had tricked her into letting him in somehow, and I was too far gone to protect her. My eyes slid shut.

'Some guardian.'

"Get rid of him. He's just about dead anyway."

Grumbling, she left to deal with the 'customer', leaving the heads to push me into the chute for lost souls. However, something warm wrapped itself around me, preventing me from falling, lashing out at the heads.

"No. Get away from him."

'Chihiro.'

Consciousness was now something very hard to hold onto, but I had to. Something else was in the room, something dangerous that could hurt her. It was talking, but I couldn't make it out now. Then I felt it coming towards us.

"I want my seal back, and anyone who steals it must die!"

'Stay away from my Chihiro.'

Ignoring the pain, my tail lashed out at the menace, and I was satisfied to feel it be sliced. Blackness claimed me, but I was called back.

"Haku! We're falling!"

I knew, but I had nothing left to give. Just when despair was about to claim me, I felt a surge, and a tug at my heart. A power I had never known before coursed through my veins, and I later found out from her that my normally green eyes had glowed white as I caught a faint breeze and mastered it, riding it to a place I knew she would be safe. Going through the ventilation shafts, I could feel scales being pulled off, exposing more flesh to cut and bleed. At last, the fan was ahead of us, and I braced to take the impact.

Chihiro landed in the arms of Kamaji, while I hit something twice. I think it was both the wall and the ceiling. Dazed,, I sat up, and Chihiro scrambled to me.

"He's hurt!"

I told her to stay back, to keep away, but I guess she didn't speak Dragon, as she just kept coming. When she was in my face, I tried again.

'You idiot! You could have been hurt or killed! What were you thinking?'

"Roar!"

Nope. Definitely doesn't speak Dragon. The stubborn face gave it away.

The next thing I knew, she was trying to get me to take something that smelled absolutely horrible! She said it was medicine from the river spirit, and that it would make me better. It smelled more like somebody hadn't washed their socks in about six years though. There was no way I was going to eat that, medicine or not.

My human forced my mouth open, shoved the pill way into the back of my mouth, and held my snout shut. It actually felt rather nice, having her there, except for the fact that I had just swallowed the most horrible tasting medicine in her world or mine. It was so bad, and worked so well, that I absolutely could not hold back.

'Vile! I'm going to throw UP!'

"Growl. Snort. RAWR!"

Her Dragon must have gotten better, since she understood that one. Luckily, I hadn't eaten anything, or even managed to get any of Zeniba's famous tea. All that came out was the seal (don't ever swallow a magic seal) and the slug Yubaba tried to control me with.

Kamaji says Chihiro squished the nasty little thing. I don't know, I'd already passed out from the pain that was coming back, and the sheer odiousness of the Elder river god's medicine. Let's just say that if I ever wore socks, I would have burned them in the furnace first thing when I woke up.

"Where's Sen? Can you tell me what's going on?"

Ok. So burning socks would be the second thing on my list.

"You blacked out. Remember?"

"I remember being in darkness, then Sen calling my name. When I woke up, I felt better than ever."

"Pure love. It broke Zeniba's curse."

'Ne? Pure love?'

"Where is Sen?"

"She took the seal back to Zeniba's. She did it to save you."

Something must have been wrong with the boiler man, maybe too much time in the heat. Why would she save me, nothing but a pesky little thief. Thieves didn't deserve love or saving. However, Yubaba would be furious she had gone. If I just left she'd fry both of us when we returned.

So I went to get permission.

When I got to her office, I found the little frog and the foremen groveling before the old witch. They were at least trying to save Chihiro and her parents, telling how she had saved them. She must either be really brave, or really stupid to put herself in so much danger. My vote would be on bravery.

"They must be ready to eat by now."

"Wait a minute."

"You're still alive."

Over amongst a wagon-load of presents and sweets sat the three heads, one on top of the other and shoveling themselves full of junk food. I now knew why Bou was so fat, but I couldn't believe that she had been taken in by a simple illusion.

"You still haven't noticed something precious to you has been replaced."

Then I noticed the dirt masquerading as gold. She did too, and looked at it, but was still taken by the illusion. Then she looked at her son, noticing that he was actually out of his room. Unzipping the illusion, she saw the sight that I saw. It was rather satisfying to see her unravel. She wanted her baby back, and I wanted to have Chihiro and her family freed. We came to a deal, even though Chihiro had to take a test in order for her to go home.

It was a lot easier and more amusing than I thought it would be. Normally, I would have pitied her, but the sneaky plan to kill me still had me a little angry to put this politely. On my way out, I was sorely tempted to break her pipes, except for the fact I would have to pay for them. She'd probably even make me fix them myself, knowing her.

I danced upon the winds the whole way to Zeniba's, lightened by my joy that my young friend's parents would be going home, and Chihiro as well with any luck. Lady Moon's light shone off of my scales, which quickly grew back thanks to my healing abilities. I could not see them, but I knew that waves of green trailed behind me, a sight that would hopefully lift the heart of the only person that I could truly say I felt bonded to.

It seemed to take forever, but finally I was there, the winds rattling Zeniba's windows as they set me down and knocked for me. Then, it hit me.

'I hope she's not still mad. It's not like I truly wanted the thing, it was my assignment.'

Creaking filled the air, a mourning of wood and mountains sacrificed long ago to birth the door. A tiny face peeked out around the door, cautious as a rabbit peeking out of its warren. Then, all caution was thrown aside, light shining from her face as the little white pearl within her span and danced, winking its welcome to me.

She was on my snout again, nuzzling me as if she would never move from that spot again. I wondered if she realized that she was kissing me, or if in my absence it had become more accepted to do that kind of thing. I just knew that I was relieved she was there, alive and well.

Then I smelt Zeniba from the door. I wondered if she was going to zap me in front of my little one. Even though she, uh, wasn't so little any more. I bowed as best I could in this form, although it only consists of a lowering of the head.

"Haku. I will forgive you for stealing my seal. In return, you must take good care of Chihiro for me. Understand?"

I nodded my approval, and then felt the silk of skin beneath my chin, caressing my fur. I was going to miss the contact later, and so enjoyed it while I could. As she then ran back for one last hug, I noticed a purple gleam anointing her head, gracing her hair in the form of a hairband. The magic in it seemed to be an extension of Zeniba's, mixed in with that of Bou, the bath bird, and even Kaonashi had leant her his protection. I saw him glaring at me from the doorway.

'Don't worry, I'll take care of her.'

With our two little charges perched on her shoulder, she mounted my neck, her body again finding its proper place. Legs that were nowhere near as spindly as when she arrived gripped me tightly, warming me. Hands found my horns, perfect grips for her, though I did wish to again feel the soft petals of her hands.

Soon, I was snaking our way through the currents. At first, her legs squeezed the very blood from my sides, but then loosened again slightly as she grew used to the sensation. My blood circulated again freely. Moving gently as a wavelet on a lake, she leaned forwards, closer to my ears. I suppressed a shiver as her breath tickled the sensitive hairs therein.

"Haku, listen, I think I may have remembered something that may help you."

I felt my eyes slit, as I concentrated on hearing what my angel had to say.

"When I was little I fell into a river. I thought the water carried me to shore. I think that was you, and that your name is Kohaku."

In surprise, my eyes widened again and I lost my form in the need to talk to her.

"You did it Chihiro! I remember! I remember you and your little pink shoe. I was the spirit of the Kohaku River. My name is Nigihayami Kohakunushi."

"So it was you. You saved me. I knew you were good!"

Tears of joy leaked from her eyes as Bou and bird goofed around in our free fall, trying to swim through the air as I had done. Using my magic, I carried the four of us back to Aburaya. Chihiro would be going home. I just knew it.

When we arrived, Yubaba was just as cranky as ever, probably due to a combination of too much meat in her diet and worry over her son.

"I see you failed to bring my baby back."

Yu-bird dropped Bou, who transformed in mid drop, landing on his feet and standing strong as a mountain.

"My baby! Did they do terrible things to you? You're standing by yourself! When did that happen?"

Like I would ever hurt a child. Honestly, had anyone ever see me be mean to a kid, even the occasional and usually extremely troublesome ones that came from time to time?

"We had a really good time."

I had to stop this. As glad as I was to see Bou back were he belonged, Chihiro had to go where she belonged.

"Don't forget your promise! Send Chihiro and her parent's home."

"Not so fast Haku! I get to give Sen one final test first."

It turned out that the test was choosing her parents from among a bunch of pigs. She'd get it, She memorized what her parents looked like, and the connection to her intuition was crystal now.

"There must be some mistake. None of them are my mom OR dad."

"None of them? Is that your final answer?"

The workers and guests all held their breaths. Chihiro nodded, then there was an eruption. With all of the noise, Mount Fuji could have erupted and none of us would be the wiser for it. After she said her goodbyes, I reached for her.

As her hand grasped mine, the currents of my blood flowed faster and harder. Drums sounded in my head as the scent of cherries and a long lost river swept me away. Together, we ran for the border, two children heading for home. But for me, the barrier stayed firm, stone versus the thin veil for my dear friend.

"I can go no further."

"Will I ever see you again?"

Flashes of walking with a child and a man in priest robes flickered before my eyes.

"I'm sure you will."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go, and don't look back."

I let that living river slip through my fingers, releasing her waters to flow as she would through life. The waves of her hair crashed as she bounded down the steps towards her life. As she went down the hill, there was a moment I thought she would trip, and hurt herself, but she corrected, with more grace that she had before. She gave me one last fright, pausing before the exit as if she was going to look back.

Copper filled my mouth, then she carried on.

"I remember who I am Chihiro. We share a deeper connection than either of us can remember, and we will meet again. This Nigihayami Kohakunushi promised to see you again, and it shall be so."

* * *

The young dragon rolled up the scroll of his diary, having written down the memories incase someone tried to wipe his mind again. He could not get out of his contract just yet, but he would train hard, and hopefully, someday be strong enough to return to the human that had helped him so much, and taught him a lesson many spirits had not learned.

* * *

Words

Shikigami - magic paper puppets, similar to voodoo dolls in some aspects, but still way different.

Vile - utterly, supremely, nasty and unbelievably bad.

Onigiri - rice balls.

Enkoujo - quick cleansing ritual to ward off bad luck and curses.


	2. The Battle of Haku and Hormones

Promise of a River

Chapter 2: The Battle of Haku and Hormones

By: LadyRainStarDragon

* * *

Yubaba had been surprised to learn I knew my real name. She herself had even forgotten what the whole thing was, and she had my contract. It just went to show me that she didn't look at it very often, just kept it hidden so I couldn't get away. She kept it hidden quite well, I'd looked.

I remember what she had said when I told her what she could do with the old thing. Ah, the look of shock on her face was just so sweet. For about two seconds, that is.

Then it struck me that I still had no idea how to get back to the physical world, especially since my body had been, well, buried. That's really a morbid thought, even for a river god.

"Just what brought this on Haku? Are you annoyed that you lost your little pet?"

"What makes you think that she is my pet?"

"Oh, only the way you barged in demanding that I let her and her parents go, then how you ran to the border with her. Holding hands no less!"

I couldn't believe it, she was laughing! 'What's so funny about holding hands? Wait. Holding hands.' A half-heard rhyme sung once by children came floating through my head.

'. . . Touch hands, touch hands, exchange the bands. Touch lips, touch lips, give the kiss. . .'

Oh. Ewwww. Why would she think I would do something like that? I'm too young for that, aren't I?

"Anyway, as it stands there's no way you could get to her right now. You have no physical vessel to tie you to that world. And Chihiro doesn't count since you didn't make her your vessel. The best you could do would to be her guardian, and since you know so little right now, you wouldn't do very well."

'Why did she have to be right?'

"Besides, just because you know your name doesn't make our contract void. You have nine years left Kohaku. If you really want to be her guardian though, we could modify this so that your training will include those aspects as well."

Even though only a short time ago Yubaba had tried to kill me, I would seize this chance. I had now made two promises to Chihiro, and I was going to keep them.

* * *

Look at me now. Four years have passed since that time where my Chihiro had come and gone. Four years without her soft hands and changing eyes, only felt and seen in dreams.

"Ah. Ah. Ah. There. Yes!"

And three years of hearing Lin screaming whenever her boyfriend came to visit her. As a guest, he always had his own room, to which she would often be called to give him 'special services'. There was just something off about having to pay an old witch to 'relate' or mutually massage with your girlfriend. What was that anyway?

"Ahhh!"

There was also something off about being to only entity in the whole bath house that couldn't sleep through it. It was no problem when out on a mission, or being sent to a special combat training, but shouldn't I be allowed just a little sleep when I was here?

When the screams stopped, I pulled my head back out of the water. At least it had muffled the sounds a little bit. At the physical age of 16, it did things to me I didn't think appropriate, and just made me miss her more.

'Chihiro.'

It had been quiet for long enough, so I headed back inside the building, to my room. Maybe if I pulled the blanket over my head, it would be enough to let me get a little more sleep. It didn't take me long to get there, and even less time to get comfortable, as tired as I was. With all the mostly back-to-back missions (most of them curiously death-defying) I was able to sleep. And I could be with her again.

It didn't take me long to fall asleep. I also didn't get to stay in that state for long.

'Kohaku. Get up here.'

Just my luck. Yubaba sounded as cranky as I felt. I wasted no time in getting there, I didn't want to get stuck on pig pen duty on top of anything else.

"Can't you find some way to keep Lin from making so much noise?"

Blearily, I tried to form my answer as politely as possible. Unfortunately, my capacity for politeness at this time was just about that of a porcupine attempting to be soft.

"What do you want me to do? Put a muzzle on her? You could always tell him no."

Yubaba plopped back down in her chair and began bashing her head on the desk. Several times, I was quite certain I saw a large dent form, but it always popped back out like a spring. Seeing her do that was actually rather scary, as it also would have been if she decided to tap dance.

"Call it hormone control. If you still want to become Chihiro's guardian, you'll need the practice. I'm sure she's probably already in the throes of raging hormones. You need to be prepared."

It was a mission I particularly hated. Her boyfriend was a kitsune. Lin's boyfriend had already taught her bunches of tricks and illusions, which she found great delight in practicing on me. She had fixated on leaving little 'Sen's all over the place for me to come across, one even in my room one time.

I could expect some embarrassing retribution for this. After Yubaba dismissed me, I went back to my nice little nest of blue and white blankets. The colors reminded me of a section of rapids Chihiro had been particularly interested in as a child. Frowning slightly, I fell back in and curled up, eager to get back to my dream.

Then moaning filled the bath house again. I burrowed under my precious nest, leaving only my eyes peering out in the manner of a snake as I clamped my ears. It did nothing, I could still hear her.

'I don't even want to think about what they are doing. I just want some sleep.'

I got up once more, a weary soldier preparing for one last battle. As I stormed down the halls towards the room, I felt someone press what felt to be some sort of harness into my hand. Looking down, I got a glimpse of green, blue, and yellow. It seemed I and Yubaba were not the only sleepless ones after all.

Realizing it was the muzzle spoken of earlier, I colored a bit realizing the possible uses of the device. I really have to not talk when I'm too tired to think.

At last, I was at the dreaded door, and made my presence known. By that I mean that I tossed in the muzzle without looking.

"Lin, Yubaba requests that you wear this. Your cries are going to wake Bou."

"OOOO! Tell Yubaba thank you for the suggestion! I shall have to come again soon!"

'Pervert.'

Peace finally reigned in the bath house once more. Happily, I fell asleep on my nest, not even bothering to curl up this time.

I was into a favorite dream of mine. Chihiro and I were together again, sitting beside a spring, the sakura blossoms falling down all around us. We were holding hands and talking, discussing what had happened in our lives, finally getting our promised reunion. After a while, I realized that Chihiro had gone strangely quiet. Curious, I turned to look at her.

In my dream, she had aged quite nicely. I wouldn't be able to tell how old she was, just that she was rather, uh, developed. What I struggled to grasp though, was that the only thing she wore that was registering, was a muzzle.

I had to get out of here. Lin was finally driving me crazy.

'Just five more years Kohaku. You can do it.'

* * *

Having caught up on chronicling his thoughts and experiences since the last time he had made entries into the book of his memories, the young dragon rolled up the scroll. Shaking his head, he returned it to it's hiding place. His life was actually quite messed up when he read back over it, but he never wanted to forget again. There was too much of a danger there.

Smiling, with eyes far away in the realm of thought, he gazed out the window while the wind teased out his hair. Kneeling beside it, he allowed his forehead to kiss the glass, and finally found the rest he had so desperately sought.


	3. Peace

Promise of a River

Chapter 3: Peace

By: LadyRainStarDragon

* * *

The adolescent sat in the field, allowing the wind to caress his skin as the sun sat upon his back, lost in his meditation. It was so peaceful here, with the wild-flowers nodding their greetings and the tall grasses weaving an ages old Kagura dance before his eyes.

If he had been reclusive before, you could say he was even more so now. Of course, he sought out Kamaji and Lin from time to time, listening to them tell him about how their days had been. Occasionally, he would even venture to tell of experiences of his own.

Not very often though.

He rolled onto his stomach, eyeing the building of his employment as it both squatted menacingly and rose majestically into the sky.

So much activity filled those walls so much of the time, he wondered how the others could stand it. The others, Lin in particular, thrived on the chaos and the ordered hustle. Chihiro herself had done well in it, quickly finding her own spot to fill, a worker ant falling into line and pulling her share for the colony. She had probably done the same in her own world by now, going to school, making friends, doing all of the things others her age should do. Soon enough, it would be time for her to take care of herself.

When he finally got to her, he would make sure that she was taken care of, never lacking any of the things she would need.

He wished to wrap his coils about her right now, keeping her safe from harm, tracking the coursing of the blood through her veins.

For now though, he would wait. His time would come. It was no use dreaming of the future, when he still had to live his present. He would gain that living river again someday.

Rolling onto his back, his arms reached behind to become his pillow as he watched the clouds pass by. Sometimes, he could see other dragons fly by, playing in the clouds, performing the ancient dances that brought rain to the earth and reproduced their species. He never took part in those, he had no mate.

The former river god allowed his eyes to close, smiling gently as he listened to the heart of the earth far below, and the birds in the air sang along to the beat. Half an hour passed, and he was again ready to enter his place of employment.

Not so much rising up as flowing up, he stood and waded through the river of grass. A lone blue butterfly fluttered before his face, settling on his nose. Stopping to admire the tiny being, his crossed eyes made him look like a child again, innocent and curious. The voices in his head, demanding that he do this or that, had stopped again while he gazed at his living nose-warmer.

A green face framed with a blue mane formed in his mind, sparkling black eyes set high above the muzzle. A touch of a smile ghosted along the dragon's face, then the butterfly flitted off again.

He remembered the face. The blue of the wings matching her hair must have triggered some deep memory. He couldn't recall who it was, but welcomed the feeling it gave him.

Peace.

Squaring his shoulders, he set his course for the bridge yet again. It was time to go inside and receive his night's assignment. Whatever it was, whether running off a bad customer, practicing a new lesson, or balancing the accounts, that feeling would follow him today.

And he was going to need it, because also heading for the bridge, he saw the one man who could spoil his whole night. Yoruiki, coming for his monthly massage.

* * *

Kagura - a sacred dance performed in Shinto Shrines. 


	4. Am I the Only Sane One Here?

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 4: Am I the Only Sane One Here?

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

The little frog and I were currently busy scrubbing The Big Tub. He wasn't doing much good, as the encasing grime was caked on probably about four inches thick, and he was just a little guy. Just what or who had been this dirty, I didn't want or need to know.

It was just gross.

Attempting to lessen the tension that filled the entire bath house, he tried to strike up a conversation with me.

I wasn't in the mood for talk. This is the same place where HE gave MY Chihiro a gift. That's right, I said MINE, and right now I don't care if Lin finds this. Besides, if she so much as touches this scroll, her hair is going to stand on end for a week. I know how to set booby traps too.

But back to the issue at hand.

When I was anywhere else but right here, I could accept the fact that another dragon had given her something. It had saved my life after all, and he was probably old enough to be my great-grandfather. When I got stuck here, though, all that processed was 'other dragon, gift, CHIHIRO, awe' and that was enough for me. I won't even go into what the thought of another dragon _touching_ my Chihiro did to me. Yubaba knew it too, as every time she was angry with me, she had taken to putting me HERE! ARGH!

"So, Master Haku, uh, why did you get stuck doing this? Shouldn't you be out on a mission or something?"

This time, I hadn't actually done anything to get put here. I had no clue.

"None of your business."

"Gee, I was just asking."

"Shut up in there! Can't you guys be quiet? Men!"

The outburst of the passing yuna shocked both of us, and we paused in our scrubbing long enough to take a peek over the edge of the tub. Being small, the little frog had to sit on my shoulder to see. Not being able to find why she was so snippy, we shrugged and went back to work.

Another yuna passed by, griping about yet another one. There seemed to be some sort of pattern going on here. However, as Yubaba was in a particularly bad mood, we kept scrubbing.

After a while, the Foreman popped his head in to look at us.

"Master Haku! Have you noticed something . . . strange?"

"Other than the fact that this guy got stuck with The Big Tub too?"

"Yes. Have the females seemed . . . more aggressive to you?"

"A little, why?"

"And has Yubaba seemed more . . . aggressive as well?"

"Yes. I didn't even do anything this time."

"That's what I thought. Finish up as fast as you can, all of us men are calling a meeting to figure out what's going on."

He then tossed a token at us, for soaking the tub. Whatever is going on, it must be important to him. Probably just paranoid though. He was always coming up with conspiracy theories. Some, like his belief Yubaba stole names, was correct. Others, like when he thought Lin and Kamaji were really bent on world domination, were WAY off. That one was Yubaba.

"So, what's your name?"

"Tomu."

The token made the work go a lot faster, and when we got back to the men's quarters, we were just in time.

"Oh, Master Haku, good. We were afraid you weren't going to make it."

"Master Haku can tell us what's going on! He can smell what's wrong with the women!"

That was some frog from the kitchen department I think.

After hearing what everyone had to say, I had some vague sort of idea what was happening. Really, hadn't any of them had any idea? They had mostly been around the women far more than I.

I at least got to hear from Yoruiki, who was now my assistant, that Lin had bashed him repeatedly with her bucket for some inane innuendo. Probably served him right knowing how over-the-top he could be in THAT area.

"Has there been any smells that are similar on them that aren't usually there?"

Kamaji, who was sitting in the corner, rolled his eyes. Clearly he had tried to maintain some kind of order before I had gotten here. Sadly, most of the workers here were young, many not even close to being fully mature.

"Most kind of smelt bloody, the ones who were normal didn't smell that way, but smelled like they were ripening somehow."

It was like I thought. Unfortunately for me, frogs didn't have this problem among their own, so they had no idea what was going on. The Yuna, having held a humanoid form for so long, were probably taking on more functions of women. As for the weasels and foxes in cleaning, they went through this at least once a year. Was this the first time any of them had actually noticed it?

"It is nothing to worry about. I just would not provoke them for a few days."

The uneasy shifting of the other males clearly announced their fear and discomfort. I agreed with them, now that it had sunk into their heads what was going on. Perhaps it just wasn't all that common for all of the many species to co-ordinate this. Females were not something to take lightly, especially grumpy ones.

Then it dawned on them what the other smell was. The grumpiness of those would no doubt be caused by the men running away fearing pain and torture. A few of them gained hopeful and eager faces, reminding me of a pair of teenagers I had once caught peeping at a bathing goddess. The others started betting on how many it was going to take to corner me.

'And they wonder why I am not interested in mating. Time to end this.'

"Break's over! Everybody back to work!"

The masses, stared at me like I'd just announced their death or something. It wasn't really that bad, honestly. The only ones who looked as if it was business as usual were the older ones.

"You heard him! Get back to work!"

The grumbling masses began going back to their jobs, muttering about slave-drivers and workaholic dragons. I didn't care, I was too irateat the triviality of the meeting interrupting the productivity of the establishment.

My work in the bath house was finished for the night, so I now needed to study. Yubaba had warned me that I would be facing a test soon to see my progression. I would pour over all of my notes, as supposedly she could test me on anything that I had learned in the entire time I had been here.

I made it to my room unaccosted, and had just barely locked the door, when to my horror I heard it. It was the wail of a banshee (which I dis not like when they went on vacation from their country), or maybe more like the mating call of a monkey. Or would that be nails on a chalkboard?

"Master Haku? Can I bring you something?"

'A normal life maybe?'

Of course, I didn't say that. I only wanted to share my emotions with one being, and that slug outside was not her.

"No, thank you."

"Not even some tea? I could fetch you the jasmine to help you unwind."

'Can't she take a hint? Besides, I don't like how she smells right now.'

"I'm fine, but thank you? If you'll excuse me, I've things to do."

"Very well, Master Haku."

After a few moments, I carefully unlocked the door and peeked out. It seemed that my hallway had become the new place for the women to come on their break. Understandably, I locked my door again, this time with more than just a normal lock.

All I wanted to do was study, not flirt.

* * *

Having taken a break from his studying, the beleaguered boy set down his day in his scroll. After finishing, he began to wonder if someone was torturing him for their own amusement, as it seemed he rarely got any peace. When he did get a rare moment, somebody had to show up and ruin it. Then again, maybe he was just being paranoid, and this was a result of being around too many entities at once. Dragons are easily overwhelmed by too many, too close.

Noticing that it was quiet, he situated himself on his futon, which invariably always ended up looking more like a nest. He would take a short nap before going back to his studies.

* * *

Tomu - Tom

Reviewer Corner:

Shinobi KazeKage: Glad you like.

Leshyaedawnfire: updated!


	5. Growing Up

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 5: Growing Up

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Story guide: Promise to Protect and Provide, Underwater Savior, Promise of a River (in progress), Rivers Never Die, Rivers Keep Flowing (in progress), Rivers Always Claim What Is Their Own.

* * *

Well, look at this, it's been a long time since I've needed to write anything. I've only had studying, worker supervision, and the regular 'forced retrieval' missions to do. The females have been particularly tenacious in trying to retrieve their belongings lately though. I am going to have so many spirits mad at me when I finally get out of this contract.

Other than that though, it's been rather peaceful. That's because it has been wonderfully, blissfully NORMAL! If you don't count the yunas or the odd weasel following me around on their breaks. Why do they keep sniffing like dogs? They think I don't see it behind their fans or sleeves, but I do have working ears, thank you.

I know I don't stink. I am very picky about my hygiene actually. Every hair must be in place, no wrinkles in the clothing, skin washed and scales scrubbed and polished every day. So why do they insist on following me and smelling me? It started all of a sudden too, that night where all the women seemed to have their cycles co-ordinate with each other. That's just scary. It's not normal, but I hear it happens ever hundred years or so.

On second thought, my life still hasn't approached normal. I can't remember much before Chihiro was a little child (and one incident is still rather fuzzy, but I do remember), but I know normal was nothing like this. Is psudeo-normal a word? Huh.

Crud! They're knocking on the door again.

Finally. They're gone. I think they're stalking me. They act normal when they work, but when they think Yubaba or the customers aren't watching . . . I swear, I thought one of them was going to fly across the room for a moment. Eww, flying slugs. There went my appetite.

Yubaba's not much help with it either. I don't remember having parents, so how am I supposed to know this stuff? What does she want me to do, walk up to the visiting River God (who touched my Chihiro and keeps coming back hoping she'll be here) and say 'why won't these crazy women leave me alone?' Yeah, that would go over nicely. He'd probably laugh himself to death. The one time I asked Yubaba why they kept trying to smell me, she just laughed and said it was the same reason she made me cut my hair when I came here.

The other men, they just say I'm the luckiest guy in the bath house, and those with girlfriends complain that they don't see them because they follow me around. I swear, the only two women here that don't creep me out for that are Yubaba (who says she's too old for such foolishness now and wouldn't be caught dead following her little pet thief around) and Lin. Lin just gets grumpier, but that's ok.

What is so lucky about women following me and trying to distract me from my job? And we can't forget tripping so that they either tap me or land right in front of me. I'm not catching them. Let's not forget pulling the weak 'this is just so heavy, can you help me?' They're here to work. I hate it when something isn't done just right. It's like when you order sweet and sour shrimp, then get served sweet and sour tofu instead. I hate tofu.

"Can I bring you something Master?"

'No, but you can get back to your post.'

Really, I might have considered sending her for a pot of HOT green tea and a plate of dumplings, since I had emptied my tea pot, except she had been making a point of coming here every ten minutes. I took a sip of my now very COLD tea to calm down before replying. It didn't work, I still felt stalked. I definitely was calling a meeting after hours.

"I think you should attend to the customers. I work here too, and am quite capable of taking a short break to stretch and get my own supplies, thank you."

She left. The lack of presence outside in my hall was divine. Stifle not a dragon, we do snap.

'Haku! Come take your test now.'

When the mistress summons, you get up there as fast as you can. Guess what my test was. No, really, guess.

"Haku! Can you tell me why the mature women have been following you around when they are not working?"

'Great. I asked her earlier, now she's asking me?'

"No, Yubaba."

Can you believe it, she started cackling at me. Why do old people cackle, they are perfectly capable of normal laughter. Anyway, getting back to my point, she was mocking me.

I hate being mocked. I kept my cool though. Somehow, some way, I would pay her back for each and every misdeed she'd done to me or laid at my feet. Oh, yes. Publicly.

"I even gave you a hint you forgetful dragon! Can you remember why I cut your hair when you came under my employment?"

"Because you said I was too young and untrained to have such unrestrained power. You also did not want the bath attendants to be distracted from their customers by my hair."

Going back to her paperwork, she started humming. Yes, humming, She had a twinkle in her eye too, winking and gleaming like those stupid jewels she always fauns over.

Absolute horror. That's what I felt at that moment when the winds breezed in and ruffled my now slightly longer hair before my face. It reminded me of a black bird's wing in the interior light, and it suddenly dawned on me. Somehow, they found me attractive like . . . that. Years of hearing the women giggling as I walked away, that time I swept Chihiro into the garden, the weird sniffing when they didn't smell like blood, my voice being deeper, and the odd dreams about my Chihiro. It all added up now.

"I see, I'm no longer in puberty, so you decided to either do something to make my scent affect them more than it should, or you've given them all something to bring their breeding or purging cycles early. You have also taken advantage of the last of my boyhood flux to intensify my notice of such forward advances."

"Very good boy. You pass. Now go make sure everyone is doing their job."

'Yipee.'

"Yes Yubaba."

Doing my duty, and swallowing my disgust at the witch and what she'd done, I made my rounds. Now that I knew why I was getting undue attention, I cloaked my scent. It led me to startle quite a few workers who were slacking off. A few well placed glares, a couple cleared throats, my normal expressionless mouth, and things were as they should be. I was much happier. I'd even made my erstwhile followers squirm.

Now hopefully they'll finish soon and get on their regular cycles.

After what seemed like forever, Aburaya closed down for the night. Instead of going right to bed, I went to bathe again. This made my second trip today to the river I was allowed to use for caring for my dragon form's bathing needs. The Big Tub was just too much to work for every day use for one dragon who happened to live here. Rivers were better anyway, the water moves. They only time you'll catch me in those tubs is if I need to relax abused muscles. Now, just the thought of spying bathwomen made my flesh crawl and my mane puff.

I'd better not see so much as a batted eyelash tomorrow though.

* * *

Having gotten to where he finally felt clean (again), and vented to himself, Haku slumped forward over his desk. Sweet slumber pulled him into its embrace, having had too stressful a day to bother moving anymore.

His daytime dreams were filled with a 14 year old Chihiro. She was bent over maps and tracing onto a current map where a river once flowed. Others were with her, also pointing out various places on the map, and she then used another color of ink to draw a new course. Enthralled with this dream, he found himself wrapping around her ankles and peering over her shoulder. Several times the dream Chihiro rubbed at her skin where he touched, her had passing through him like smoke.

Filled with pleasure with his dream, he purred out one word, which would have been heard if you were right next to him.

"Chihiro."

In the dream, she looked up from what she was doing, turning her head towards where her ear had been. She could have sworn she heard a familiar voice call her name. Unknown to her, her lips grazed and passed through a furry cheek as bamboo-colored eyes slid shut in bliss. Not seeing anything, but feeling a presence all the same, she looked at her friends. She didn't know why, but she had the urge to blush.

"Did one of you call me?"

"Nope. Let's get this done before free period is over."

"Right."

* * *

Reviewer Corner

Shamanbabe: Welcome, and thanks.

Nitengale: It may be just a one-shot in a collection, but that doesn't mean stuff won't be revisited when called for!

Avolare: Did I respond to you already? Or did I just think about it? Anyway, it will be continued. Anyway, I can't answer your question, it would give it away.


	6. Understandings and Offerings

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 6: Understandings and Offerings

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Story guide: Promise to Protect and Provide, Underwater Savior, Promise of a River (in progress), Rivers Never Die (in corrections), Rivers Keep Flowing (in progress), Rivers Always Claim What Is Their Own.

* * *

Things had finally settled down around the bath house. The women's cycles had stabilized and they had finally understood he was off-limits. How he had accomplished that feat was very simple. He just stared at them till they squirmed, then walked away.

* * *

Today's mission was a tough one. It wasn't that the cargo was difficult to carry, actually that was the easy part. No, the tough part was what I was supposed to do with it..

Him.

That's right, Yubaba wanted me to take a gift to that great god. Something in the back of my mind wanted to head the other way, find a deep cave, and sulk. Ah well, I needed to thank him anyway. It was time to get over this silly jealousy I had. I mean, really, he's ancient. I really don't think he'd try to take her away from me. Then again, we dragons are possessive creatures, and great battles have been fought over the strangest things.

You wouldn't believe what Yubaba was having me take back. A Pearl. Apparently, the last time he was here, when he was getting his chin scrubbed (a past-time that we dragons just LOVE) his Pearl had accidentally fallen out of one of the folds. Whoever it was, they scrubbed too hard. It was a good thing for him that he lived in a river. If he'd lived in the Heavens, that would have been bad. Could you imagine flying all the way to the Gates, and then not being able to get in, just look and go 'I live there, now I'm stuck.' It's terrible!

Who knows how she came by it, but that's beside the point. All I know is I didn't steal it.

The flight was nice. I saw parts of Japan that I hadn't seen in a great while. It was no wonder why he had become a regular customer though. The population growth along his banks was horrifying. I had thought the bathhouse was overcrowded, but his domain was more so.

Shinanogawa-sama was glowering at a sewage treatment facility when I found him. It is very sad to see such an August presence engaging himself by glowering at anything. I can understand though, he does so much for the humans, and all he ever sees as repayment are wastes dumped into his home.

"Shinanogawa-sama?"

His Augustness abandoned his staring match with the machinery and dead ponds, turning tired and watery eyes on me. His silver scales were beginning to dull already, not gleaming as they had been upon departing our bath house. His mane, grey with age, was matted and short, tattered by his battles with pollutants and ecology decay.

"Ah, welcome Young One! What brings a healthy boy to visit such an aged one as I?"

"Yubaba-sama has sent me to deliver this to you, Lord."

"Ah! So that's where it has been. Thank you. You don't have to address me as Lord, my boy. You are a young Lord yourself, so even though you currently serve Yubaba, I hope you would see us as equals."

A dip of my head was my answer. I really had no words for that. The old one smiled at me, a dry crack in the earth of his face.

"You have grown much. Has there been any word yet from that child, Sen?"

A shake and sigh. No one had heard news of her.

"I suspect, Shinanogawa, that she is going to school and has made friends wherever she is at."

The Ancient regarded me silently, weighing something in his mind, judging what words he would best use.

"You care for the child. Her energy is still with you as yours is with her. I felt you, young one, when she fell in that tub so long ago. You watched over her when she was young, and now you feel as the wind trapped in a string that you can not see her yet. You were so jealous! I could feel your eyes even though I am sure your were out running one of your Mistress' errands for her."

His laughter after that astounded me. He found it funny I was jealous of him?

"I see your surprise, Young One. I too, was once in your place. If it had not been from the lesson that I learned from the humans so long ago, I would ravage their villages for what they do to my home. Yet, I do remember, and know that they are only as little children to be cherished and guided. You are forgiven, and you are welcome for the assistance I gave one of your own. You'd better run along now, before Yubaba gets impatient to have you back. Sayonara!"

"Sayonara, Shinanogawa."

Rather dazed, I took back to the air, catching a passing current and climbing high into the sea above me. That tales were right, he was very wise. I only hope that one day I can be as wise as he.

'How did he know what was in my heart without my speaking it? Why was I so jealous of him in the first place?

His words echoed through my brain as I swam the skywaters.

"You care for the girl."

The time she fell into me, so small and innocent only reaching for her shoe. The trust she put into me to save her as I shivered from her touch igniting my protective fire. Playing with her as she grew, the music of my flute guiding her feet in dance as the wind kami fluttered her nutty tresses. The fear and joy that filled me the time I saw her at the bridge. The Joy and sadness clashing within my blood in alternating tides as she slipped through my fingers back to her proper place.

'I don't just care for her though. Do I . . . love her? Is that why I was so jealous?'

So know, you see that quandary I have put myself in. There have been no relationships of that caliber between a human and a dragon in a very long time. It has become a sort of unwritten rule that romance between spirit and flesh is forbidden, as the flesh always gives way to the passage of time. Most things of the flesh leave their mortal shell and take on another after the former has worn out. It can be hard to find the soul again, and they don't always remember. But to me, the most important consideration was her feelings.

'What if she doesn't love me in return? Can I still remain her friend?'

On my return, I paused my thoughts. This was not the place to dwell on such sentiments. Resuming my normal chores, I made my rounds checking that all was as it should be. Afterwards, I was engaged in the account books, checking the week's flow of income and expenses. A very boring night really, which didn't do much to distract me from my thoughts.

So now I close this entry.

* * *

Allowing the pen to stop its scratching on his scroll, Haku laid back on his futon. Drifting to sleep quickly, leaving his body restlessly stirring as it worked out the day's tensions, a part of his spirit departed and journeyed. If anyone had been in the room with him, they would have been surprised to see him become a bit less real. Not vastly animatedly less real, just somehow . . . softer, less solid.

Meanwhile, at Ogino-daitoku's home in the Kohakugawa district, a 15 year old in the red and white of a miko stood in a garden, pausing to let the wind caress her slender form. Today, her hair was down, flying in the breeze as the band that normally restrained it wrapped about her wrist. In her hands rested a small wooded tray, loving carved with an image of the family's protector deity, who had also been the river deity. This tray was new, just having been finished by her grandfather a few months ago. Upon it, crouched a pile of mochi, fresh and delicious from the oven.

The wind had finished its play, her robes now calm enough that she could kneel without having trouble standing back up afterwards. Before a small torii, she knelt to place the humble offering, as an imitation river of bluish rocks mimicked the long-gone river, curling around bonsai and one large boulder. On a little island, reached by stepping stones across the river of rock, was a small patch of grass, summoning the little miko to come and meditate, to prepare for her summer's day.

This whole time, she had the strangest feeling of being watched. It was not a threatening presence, but comforting and intensely protective. The feeling had been coming more and more to her lately, more intense as the progress for the river restoration project continued. Always during the day, although once in a while she would wake from dreams feeling someone was thinking about her.

Sometimes, she swore she could feel a touch, or hear her name whispered in her ear. But every time she turned to look, there was nothing there. Shaking off the thoughts, she prayed to the family kami for good fortune for the project and her family. As she finished, Amaterasu, the sun, began to peek over the horizon, bringing the new day.

How, in his dream, he could know what she felt he did not know. He merely accepted it, watched her, shared presence with her.

When Kohaku awoke that evening, he was puzzled to find a plate of mochi sitting beside him, waiting.


	7. Where Are My Shirts?

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 7: Where are my shirts?

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

Tonight was terrible! Horrible! Awful! It was worse than doing a cannonball into a deep river only to discover the river was gone. Well, that didn't happen to me, but there was a homeless dragon that stopped in for a bath before going to see the Sea King for a new post, and it happed to him. I can only imagine how much that landing hurt.

But that's not what I'm writing about today.

I had a day off today, all for myself. The first one in such a long time. Wanting to keep my day off, instead of Lin guilting me into helping with her chores or playing some dirty trick on me in revenge, I took off. Managed to find a nice clearing in the forest too, far enough away that I would be safe, but close enough so that Yubaba wouldn't think I was running away.

You wouldn't believe how wondrous this clearing was! There was good clean dirt (stop laughing at me), nice tall grass, curious little yellow and blue flowers nodding lazily, and all sorts of little bugs going about their busy lives like people in those cities that sprawl everywhere. Lovely gray rocks wore mantles of lichen while a few trees wore shawls of moss, dancing in the breezes. A tiny brook babbled just on the east side of this clearing, some little water sprite baby playing between sun and shadow, too young to take any form yet but water.

Other than that little baby, who was actually kind of cute, there was nobody around at all. The sun was absolutely glorious, beating down on me with her warm rays and roasting me in my heavy clothes. Enjoying the privacy, I decided I was going to take my tops off and soak up some of the sun. It had been so long since I could sun myself, and even longer since I'd had the opportunity to do it in human form. Folding them carefully, I put them on the grass to use as a pillow, then laid down.

I promptly fell asleep. Sun does that to us.

It was a very lovely dream, but I'm not going to write it down. Lin's not the only one trying to look in here now you know. If she ever found out what it was, I know I'd fall for those fake Sens she keeps putting in my bed, in the garden, and in the cellar. It's not happening.

Besides, Lin's hair stood on end for almost a week now. So we know what that means.

When I woke up, my shirts were no where to be found! There I was, shirtless, the brook now laughing at me (oh, I hate that) and judging by the sun, with only two hours to find them and get back to the bath house before Yubaba would send out searchers. What if some of the volunteers were women? It was a possibility I didn't want to dwell on too long.

I'd grown very tired of intercepting passed notes among the female workers supposedly working and discovering they were pictures of what they thought I looked like now without shirts. They were all done in Lin's style of drawing too, she must have sneaked a peek when I was in the men's shower. I really had to figure out where she was hiding her hentai manga so I could burn them.

'Of course, I could just take off now, get there while they're all still busy with their own clothes, and put on my spares. It would be simple to come back for them later. No, wait, my spares are all still being washed and mended. Scratch that.'

Growing tired of the child's laughing, I drew a deep breath and went over to him.

"What's so funny?"

"You! These three green bouncy things came into my clearing making all kinds of racket and you slept right through it. Two of them pulled your covery-things out from under your head while the other was on your chest yelling, and you still wouldn't get up. The one on your chest kept jumping up and down, and it was hilarious the way he sank into you a bit."

'Damn! How'd I sleep through that? Oh, yeah, I remember now.

* * *

The dragon at this point is staring goofily at a blank wall, imagining something only he can see, and obviously enjoying it greatly, possibly too much. After about 10 minutes, he literally shakes himself to drop his thought for the moment.

* * *

Dratted bouncing heads. What are they anyway? Pets? Ex-husbands? Mailmen who brought one two many bills?

"Shirts. They took my shirts, and I need those."

"Why? I don't wear covery-things."

"You're still just a kid, you can get away with it when you practice your shapes. I'm older, I need to cover myself. Which way did they go?"

The kid sent a wave of water to point the way, and I took off after thanking him. Somebody had to show him how to be polite. Why I didn't take my dragon shape, I don't know. I guess I was too focused on getting back my clothes. So, at this point, I'm running through the forest half-naked. How undignified, right?

After a bit, I hear them bouncing and rolling along, 'Oi'ing and laughing. I didn't even know they could laugh. I poured on a little more speed, not allowing myself to give in to the pleasure of the hunt, just wanting my blasted shirts. They finally came into sight after what seemed like years.

Ok, so it was really two seconds.

Not paying any heed whatsoever to my surroundings, I burst out of the forest, the very grasses bowing in awe of my speed, power and grace.

Shut up voice. (No, hahaha) Stop laughing. (No.) What's so dratted funny? Why am I writing my responses to you?

* * *

Here, the frustrated and severely embarrassed dragon has paused in his writings to himself (not realizing how funny it is to be writing to himself, much less arguing with himself in his head). The younger sounding head-voice does not stop badgering the boy until it strikes him just how conceited his sentence sounded.

* * *

Ok, so it was a figure of speech, it was more like the air shoved roughly out of the way by my speeding body caused them to sway. It just sounded so good.

(Right. Sure. Next, you're going to tell me you weren't daydreaming about Chihiro.)

Where was I? Oh, right. (Haha, thinking of Chihiro too much does that to you.) Shut up!

(Hahahaha.)

Ok, that is rather scary. Is this pen haunted? (Maybe.) That would be my luck. These new ballpoint pens are evil, quills are much better.

* * *

Switches to a favorite quill.

* * *

So, as I burst out of the forest and tackle the nearest clothing possessing head to regain my dignity, I hear all these delighted squeals. Ignoring them, thinking they were just figments of my apparently over-active imagination, I wrested my prize from the evil foe. Said evil foe will henceforth be known by myself as 'the evil green tunic stealing spawn' when not in Yubaba or anyone else's presence.

Luckily, it turned out it was my blue tunic, which I promptly put on before I tackled and conquered another evil foe. Said evil foe is henceforth known as 'the evil green haori stealing spawn'. Now fully clothed in amazingly still clean tops, I glared at the last head, 'the evil green tunic and haori thieves' accomplice spawn' before turning to head for the bath house.

Only to be greeted by every woman who worked there, whistling at me. Lin had gotten her revenge for her hair after all. Not that I was going to let her realize it though.

She'd probably sold tickets to see this.

"Stop drooling. Can't a man train in peace? Unless one of you would like to lend me your boyfriend or husband for sparring practice, there is no one brave enough to challenge me. Go get ready for work, we'll start getting ready for customers early today."

Thankfully, they bought it. I watched them scatter like rats before a ravenous tiger let loose in a storeroom.

But I wonder, what did Lin give them to get those heads to help her?

* * *

The young man hid his scroll in the ceiling above his nest, still grumbling about evil green clothing stealing spawn and nosy workers. From underneath a corner of his mussed 'nest' peeks out a piece of a pink bath house uniform, the same one Chihiro had once worn. How he managed to get it, he had no intention of telling anyone. Finally satisfied, he flopped down to resume hisfantasy about Chihiro swimming with him in magically warm waters, then later studying some old books together on his bed.

Elsewhere in the building, Lin made good on her bargain with the heads, awarding them with three sacks full of caramel corn, and two small bags of roast newt.

* * *

Reviewer Corner

Thanks to Fyraga, Katsy Kat, NitenGale, Shamanbabe and Shivanick

Alyssa: Glad you enjoy this story. Sadly, I can't make them meet in this one. This collection is part of a series of stories. Check out 'Rivers Never Die' for when they meet again. As time progresses, others will see him, but I don't know about her yet. Of course, he'll still think those are weird dreams interspersed with his normal ones.


	8. Elder Brother, Delivery Boy

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 8: Elder Brother, Delivery Boy

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Corrected due to the attack of the evil typo bunny.

* * *

Yubaba sat in her office staring at the blood stains she still hadn't been able to get out of her beautiful carpet since the day Haku put them there while bringing Zeniba's seal. He put one or two more there each time he came back from a dangerous mission too. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear he had a vendetta against either her or the poor innocent carpet.

The way he kept rolling on it though, with that glare in his eye, made her wonder. He was almost like a cat sometimes, only instead of spraying to mark his territory, he bled on her carpet. Maybe she should quit being so hard on him. Nah, he'd made her let go of the best attraction the bath house had possessed in a long time. Their pride and stubbornness had trapped them in a vicious cycle of dangerous mission, bleed all over expensive carpet, heal, make him clean the carpet, dangerous mission.

At least she got to make him squirm from time to time, taking a normal occurrence and blowing it up in his face to see how he handled it. Besides, if he still wanted to be a human's guardian, he had to go through this stuff. That way, it would be easier to deal with her. Teenagers and young adults could easily get themselves into more trouble than she ever could.

Speaking of making him squirm, it would be time to send him on another test soon. It was high time he take the final test, and then the Council could deliberate his readiness for a new guardianship. First, he needed to get his keister back here with the herbs and run off the customer that was scaring all the workers. She was getting too old for that.

"Haku! You're late! Where in the Seven Hells are you? Get back here now!"

* * *

That witch had sent me clear into China for some special ginseng, from a special spot, on a special mountain. I was expected to bring back a very large crate full of the stuff for healing teas. This was my third day away from the bath house, and I was almost back.

You wouldn't believe how relieved I actually was to see my place of employment (house of enslavement). At least this task was an honest job though.

'Bah! What do I look like? A pack animal? Crate indeed!'

Witches. Think they can boss all of us spirits around just because they're different. Oh let's trick the poor confused young god and get him doing menial labor and stealing for us! Let's steal the names of a bunch of normal everyday spirits and make them little more than slaves! Let's make their wages room and board, and take their tips. Whee, look at my power grow!

'Bah! I'd start a worker's union if it wouldn't endanger them.'

Just once, I want to see her flying around, struggling to keep a humongous, awkward, dead weight load airborne that magic would actually damage. I don't even get to use magic to levitate this giant box because my magic might spoil them. Good thing I had sharp claws to keep a good grip.

I was just within the boundaries of the resort, when I heard her bellows. I thought my ears were going to start bleeding, they're so sensitive sometimes. Yes, she had been kind enough to give me a job when I needed one, but I really resented the things she had me do sometimes.

So undignified.

'Maybe next time she won't send me clear to China. Just because they have five toe claws they think they're the most wonderful things to happen to the planet. Every time I got the crate half-full, they'd steal the herbs as I was gathering more. All because I've only got three toes. I'm from Japan, deal with it, you move West from Japan, you gain toes. Mutants. But oh, no, let's play Pick On The Foreigner.'

"Haku!"

'On my way.'

'So touchy about a bunch of tea. Just keep throwing your hissy-fit and wearing yourself out.'

If it was cherries, I could understand. But ginseng? It smells like socks! Offensive!

Besides, it could be used as an aphrodisiac, and with half the workforce being late teens now, I wasn't so sure it was the wisest thing to have surplus of. If they were even just half as bad as the little demon running around in the back of my head, I could rest assured of finding something that wasn't supposed to be going on. Again.

Then I get blamed for it. What's she want me to do? Sleep in the store room and guard the supplies? Just because I'm a dragon doesn't mean I want to guard somebody else's hoard. I certainly don't want to play elder brother to half the workers here either.

* * *

Inside Kohaku's head:

(You would hole up in there if Chihiro were in the cellar.). Where'd you come from? I thought I got rid of you for a while.

* * *

Taking care not to break the crate . . .

* * *

Still in his head:

(Pack animal)

((Be silent and let him write, you are going to drive all three of us insane.))

(Gods have two souls, so you could say we are born with split personalities.)

((Why must you be so annoying child?))

(Why do you have to be such a goodie-goody?)

* * *

. . . and IGNORING the voices in my head that had begun to torment me lately or take over my hands to taunt me with drawings, I placed the vexing burden on the veranda before landing myself. When I was sure of being free from the wood, I resumed my other form.

"You called for me?"

"Finally, what took so long?"

"There were some . . . territorial disputes."

"Hmpf. You dragons and your territorial boundary disputes, always getting in the way."

'No, really, tell me all about it.'

"Anyway. There is a customer down there who is terrorizing the workers. Get rid of him."

"As you wish." 'Probably just another No-Face.'

Have I mentioned how the lift always seems to take forever when you are impatient? Well, it does. I wanted to hurry up and get rid of whatever it was, so I could go take a nap. Harvesting and then escaping as fast as you could with 5 other dragons deciding they aren't done with their play yet can take quite a lot out of you. While waiting for the doors to finally open, I straightened my clothes.

At last, the doors slid open.

The place was in shambles! There had been bad customers before, but this was ridiculous! Wasn't Yoruiki supposed to be her enforcer while I was gone? That was the purpose of the whole assistant-in-training deal. I can think of hurricane dragons that caused less damage. At least it seemed to be limited to only one floor. I wasn't sure to be relieved or annoyed that it was the bathing floor though.

After a moment to survey the area, I found the one responsible for this. In the middle of the floor, coiled like a spring and puffed like those Corn Puffs cereals Bou had recently taking a liking to, was a little green snake, maybe a little longer than my arm. Right now, she was looking at some poor frogs who had been assigned to bring her a drink, presumably while she had been soaking, like they were going to be her main course.

"I said women attendants only! I don't want any filthy males near me! Not with as many of them as I've been having to bite lately! This whole summer! Every time my charge bent over there was somebody there ogling her! The ones she sees are no problem since she hurts them, but the ones that she doesn't see are what I get to hurt."

"Yes Maiden Snake! Sorry Maiden Snake!"

"Don't talk to me!"

Noticing her muscles tense a little more, it occurred to me she was really going to strike at them. She didn't seem poisonous, but I'd wager 10 gold pieces that her teeth were still just as sharp. Putting on my best smile, I stopped just out of striking range to speak.

"Excuse me, is there anything that I can help you with?"

I must have surprised her, because she screamed and twisted around to face me.

"I said . . . wait, you're not a normal servant. You look kind of familiar too."

She had that look women get when they are thinking, the one that promises death if you interrupt their thought process. The snake looked familiar to me as well, come to think of it. In fact, she almost looked like . . .

"Maiden Snake?"

"Aniki! What happened to you! Why did you get younger? Is that what happens when a dragon loses his river? In that case, I'd rather be an earth dragon when I grow up."

I'd been older? That was a surprise to me, I'd always looked like me to me. I know I've looked younger, but older? Maybe I should start paying attention to my age.

"I guess so. I thought I'd asked you to watch over Chihiro for me. Why are you here?"

Maiden Snake pulled a face while the hapless male workers began to creep away. I offered my arm for her to ride as I took her to eat something and calm down further.

"Chihiro had to move back with her parents for the season. There isn't any way I can follow where they went unless I feel like riding in the tail pipe of her father's car. I'm here, because it's been a very stressful summer for me, and now I've got time off."

"So she's doing alright then? What has she been doing?"

The lift doors slid shut and I pulled the lever to go up to the dining level.

"Yes, she's doing alright. What she's been doing is classified information though, sorry."

I tried my pouty face on her, but it didn't seem to have the effect on her that it used to.

"Sorry Aniki, it doesn't work on me anymore. Ten uses the same face way too much. Sorry for the huge mess back there, I kind of lost control. I'll pay for it."

It surprised me that she felt sure she could cover the cost of the damages.

"Who's been taking care of you?"

"Ten has. He's actually pretty sweet if you can get past his lecherous ways. Don't tell him I told you that though, or he'll start going after me too."

Listening carefully, I could hear the cleanup crew getting to work straightening up her mess. Just how did such a little thing make such a big mess? A small growl vibrated my arm from the rumble of my Chikyoudai's tiny belly, but was covered by the swish of the lift doors opening to let us out. We must have been quite the sight, the normally cold or irate seeming dragon smiling gently with a tiny snake wrapped about his arm. Noticing all the strange looks I was getting, she put her head on my shoulder to whisper at me.

"Why are they staring at us?"

"Haku! Quit cheating on Sen!"

"Lin! I'm not cheating on Sen! This is my little sister. Hey, why aren't you with the rest of the cleaners?"

"Did you forget it's my day off Dragon-Boy? And what was I supposed to think since I didn't even know you had a sister. Hey, she doesn't look anything like you."

"Lord Kohaku found me and took care of me when I was little. He became my elder brother. When the river was killed he had to go away though."

"_Lord Kohaku_? Man, what happened to get you put here? You never did tell me."

"Who's Sen?"

Trust Maiden Snake to change the subject at the right time to a subject Lin would find even more interesting. She had followed us into a dining area I had chosen so I could spend time with my sister and still look like I was trying to milk payment for the damages. I knew I was in trouble when Lin's face lit up with a big grin.

"Sen is just the girl Haku has been crushing on for five years. You should have seen him after she left, he was all mopey in his room if he wasn't yelling at all of us for a year."

"So what's she look like?"

I so wanted to change the subject. Sadly, when girls get their teeth into gossip, changing the subject is like trying to take candy away from Bou. It doesn't happen.

"She's short, scrawny, got a round face and perpetual blush, mousy brown hair with a life of its own, and these eyes that don't know what color they want to be."

Well, that was one of the most unflattering descriptions of her I've ever heard. Then again, Lin is an unflattering person, and still had the image of five years ago in her mind's eye. My sister found this the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"Aniki! You've been pining for someone like that for five years when beautiful and influential spirits used to _throw_ themselves at you? What's so special about her? You know, that sounds almost like Chi-. . . Oh, that's a silly thought, never mind. She doesn't look like that anymore."

The subject dropped like molting scales. The rest of the visit wasn't much to write about. Yubaba got her payment, which made her happy.

I didn't get to find out why she'd been biting guys though.

* * *

Shaking his head as he listened to a much older and much younger version of himself arguing inside his head. The deeper voice was busy trying to get the younger voice to quit imagining what Chihiro would look like scrubbing the floors now. Recently, lots of things that he had not wanting to deal with had been cropping up inside of his head. For example, the hormone driven younger self, that currently sounded like he was losing to the older self.

'If the two of you are done, we can sleep now.'

The solidarity of his form wavered as he fell into sleep, the perpetual arguments with himself laid aside until the next time his issues demanded his attention.

Tonight's dream found him in what appeared to be some sort of newsroom. Chihiro stood at a podium giving some kind of speech, pointing to areas on the map behind her. It seemed to him she was giving a report on the progress of a river restoration. Every once in a while she paused to answer a question, or handed it off to one of a few older persons who seemed to have accompanied her.

'Why am I dreaming about the river being restored? Humans don't do that, it's got to be wishful thinking.'

Despite his attempts to rationalize his dream, he felt himself go to her, and the nervous tremor of her voice stilled to be replaced by the sonorous waves of assurance. Too soon, her speech was done, and he felt the need to return to wherever he had been before. As he drew his presence away from her, he heard a whisper, too quiet for the microphones to pick up.

"Kami was with me this day."

Unknown to Kohaku, an elderly grandfather in the audience had noted the change of color from his grandchild's normal brown eyecolor to the grey they took on when in the presence of a spirit. Out a window to the side, he thought he saw the flash of a tail's tip.

* * *

Words

Aniki - elder brother

Chikyoudai - foster sibling

Reviewer Corner

Katsy Kat: True, but what would Chihiro have done if she realized she could buy the heads services? A little young at that time to be hoarding stolen worn clothing don't you think?

Fyraga: Yeah, the poor guy has to put up with a lot, even in his dreams, huh. That wily old Lin, picking on him so much.

Fantasywriter13: Thanks. Wait, Power Rangers, my little brother loved those. Go, go Power Rangers!

Nitengale: How else would a little kid describe them to his elder? Right now Haku's hearing voices because he's got stuff to deal with he's refusing to own up to. Right now, Chihiro's River Excavation project is freeing the nergy up that got buried, so it's going to swoosh around whether he gets help or not. Yes, spirit world has mental health professionals, but would Haku really put his pride and honor at stake to see one? Mostly, 'Lin would never let me live it down.'


	9. The Dragon's Council and a Familiar Face

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 9: The Dragon's Council and A Familiar Face

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Moving out of Comedy for a bit . . .

* * *

I stood before the Oriental Dragon Council, heart racing in my chest. Deep within Earth's vast terrestrial womb this Council sat to test and deliberate over a dragon spirit's readiness to be a guardian. Here, there was no light from sun or torch, only that electricity from pure quartz crystals aligned just _so_ was used, as Earth's synapses processed whatever a planet thinks. Behind and above the natural dias that the floor had formed eons ago, was a single crystal fully as big as the bath house. Therein rested the imprint of past trials and other dealings within the room, similar to what was becoming known as a holograph in the human world.

No breeze stirred the thick air, save for the deep breathing of us six, and the heartbeat of Earth itself thrummed through the vast cavern, the molten core warming the perfectly smooth floor. Columns spanned the heights in here, fantastic works of wonder created by no tool, no living hand, merely nature itself. Precious jewels mimicked the stars in the Heavens, spangles of light and color that only grew on these sacred grounds. Here, one would wear their draconic form alone, for it was here that our legends told us the first dragons of Asia came to be.

Sometimes, the great criminals of my race would be brought here for justice, reckoning for treasonous breaches of draconic pacts millennia old. Usually though, this council was convened for the displaced ones exiled from their body of birth and seeking transfer to another body of similar element. Very few of us dragons wished to be specifically assigned to humans any more. Humans, having their own free will, were a much more difficult task than a body of water, even though they were mostly water themselves.

Today, five dragons sat in Judgement as I waited for my test of readiness. The Black, White, Red, Gold, and Blue were all of similar size and configuration, and almost all solid in their coloring. The exception was the White one, who was looking at me as if he were seeing a ghost. He was curiously familiar, scales gleaming sharply as sun reflecting from snow contrasting the brilliant solar gold of his mane, forested eyes shining in the darkened room. His scent, so like high craggy peaks and freshly fallen powder, co-mingled with the spring thaw, was sharply familiar, though I was not able to place why.

The Gold coiled himself as he sat, reaching nearly 50 loops in all, careful not to catch a horn on any of his brethren. I was so small compared to him, as I only reached a meager 25. The Most August Dragon of the Perfect Moment fixed a ruby eye upon me as he spoke. The deep rumbles danced rhythmically with higher notes, the music of our ancient language echoing throughout this Sacred Precinct.

"State your name for the Records Son of Water."

"Nigihayami Kohakunushi, Mighty Ones."

"What do you wish to submit application for guardianship of?"

"Ogino Chihiro, a human woman-child."

"For the Record, why are you applying for a new guardianship?"

"I have lost my river, and I have a special relationship with Chihiro. Her parents led her into our world, putting her in danger and I do not trust them to not do something similar. Before that, I had saved her from drowning on a day she had fallen into me due to her parent's negligence."

The stone flashed and began to glow, and in the depths I saw a copy of myself, replaying the scene. The White and Gold one lay himself heavily upon the ground, coiling about the great pillar near to him. The others turned their heads curiously at the sound, armor hissing and clinking against itself. The Black, being the nearest, nudged his side with his nose in a silent gesture of calming. Calming from rage or grief though? Some combination? After a moment's silence and exchanged looks between the five, they turned back to me. Curious eyes blazed at me, a pair each of garnet, obsidian, emerald, sapphire and amethyst.

"How is it that you lost your river, only pup of Nigihayami Tatsu?"

Lowering my head in shame, I studied the floor as I gave my answer.

"I do not remember my Lords and Ladies. I was informed that it had been filled in and built over, but how that happened I don't know. One day I was in the river, fighting for my water. The next that I remember was a month later, I was in the Boiler Room of Aburaya, bandaged. I tried to find Kohakugawa and Chihiro again, but I couldn't."

"In order to go further, Kohakunushi, we need to know what happened. Close your eyes."

Shamed at the loss of my home and the use of my first name by a stranger, I meekly bowed and closed my eyes, waiting for the death blow that I felt was sure to come. Why such a tender tone for one who had failed their guardianship and could not remember how? Behind my closed lids there was a flash of a white dog, then I lost consciousness.

In the depths of this magical coma, I must have relived what had to be the most traumatic period of my life. The pain was intense, but my self was not awake to feel it.

I awoke some time later, sprawled on the floor, underbelly up and vulnerable to any of the Council. Blood oozed from numerous wounds, particularly in the area of the chest that my heart resided in. My fur and mane were matted, while scales coated the floor like snow, seemingly ripped from their very cuticles. The exhaustion and the pain must have been playing tricks with my mind, and I could swear I heard one of them keening in the high notes we reserve for mourning.

The only animal sound that can even come close to our songs were the whale and dolphin. The song was the mourning of the passing of a warrior or wise ruler. Who had it been that deserved the Song of Eight Million Sorrows?

Catching my breath in great gasps, I noticed that my heart felt lighter, as if some secret burden had been worked through and lifted. The coldness had been taken away, although guilt could still be found if I were to swim deep enough. Rolling to my stomach I managed to regain my feet, shaky and weak as a new hatchling only minutes old. Waves of nausea tossed my stomachs to and fro, boats lost on a sea of storm.

Gaining control at last, my head rose up to meet the gazes of my elders. Their eyes were wet with unshed tears, threatening to flood with the mere blink of an eyelid. Had they done this to me? The Gold spoke again in his deep subterranean rumble.

"This Council sorrows that such as happened to you, that such happenings lie buried so deep. We will discuss the matter, and inform you six human months before the termination of your contract with Yubaba as to where your placement will be. Go now."

Making my final obeisance to the Council, my vision swam with the lowering of my head. Uncertainly, but with as much firm conviction as I could muster in such a state, I climbed through the various catacombs, ever closer to the sweet air of the above world.

I don't know how I made it to the bath house, but I awoke in my room cleansed and bandaged. Apparently, I had fallen out of the sky on my way, flattening a goodly portion of the crops and scaring our harvesters. Even Yubaba had been scared by the state I was in, if the whispers outside my door could be trusted.

"Hey, Dragon-Boy, you're awake! Sit up so I can change your bandage."

'Well, there is worse to wake up to.'

With Lin's help, I managed to sit up. It took awhile, my muscles still felt torn and pulled in places, and I was unsure if that was from the beating I must have taken in the Chamber, or the flight back. As she unwrapped my bandages, I could see that I only had one wound left, so I must have been out for a long time.

"So, what did you do to the Council to warrant getting your chest run through with a sword Kohaku?"

"I don't know. They told me to close my eyes, when I opened them, it was like I'd been in a fight. They had said they needed to see what happened."

"Well, when you first came here, you were pretty messed up. Every wound was the same exact thing as back then."

I winced as she put some balm on the wound and tightly encased my chest with a fresh bandage.

"How do you know it's a sword wound? We are not allowed a human form in the Chamber, and a dragon can not wield a sword in our other form."

"I was a fighter before I came here Haku. I was a Naginata guard for Itachi-hime. Wounds from blades I'm familiar with."

"I didn't know that."

"You're the only one besides Kamaji now who knows it. Don't spread it around."

"Hai. We all have our secrets."

"Thanks. I'll leave yours alone too."

"Arigato."

* * *

From his place on his futon, Kohaku let out a sigh as he finally finished writing these most recent events in his scroll. His lucky quill found its proper spot on the desk as he levitated the scroll back to its hiding spot.

Headaches had been common for him lately, and he was getting another one as he struggled to remember what had really happened in the time he had lost his river. All he could truly say he remembered was Chihiro falling into him, taking her to the bank. There were times he was with her, he could remember playing a few times,and he could remember telling Maiden Snake to watch her when he couldn't. Why? Why had he even needed to? Where is the rest?

Why did he feel like passing out every time he tried to unravel that dark blot? Where had the memory gone? Was it truly that bad that he didn't _want_ to remember?

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Council Chamber, the Black dragon was still poking at the White/Gold one.

"He won't speak!"

"Would you speak if you saw a re-play of your son being run through with a sword, 'killed', and somehow revived only to be split apart? Then, to find out that he doesn't remember most of his life, only happiness revolving around the girl? That he doesn't even remember his father's face?"

"Well, we kind of need his vote here."

"He's in shock, let him be."

"Yah, but his Mate tried to hide this from him!"

"For good reason, look at him!"

Blue blew in his ear, which normally would have earned her a death glare as the dragon had very clear personal boundaries. There was no reaction whatsoever.

"Will the three of you be quiet for just a moment!"

The Gold glared at the Black, Blue, and Red. One of Blue's whiskers started to smoke from the intensity of the gaze. Red rubbed her muzzle nervously. Black fell to picking at one of his scales.

"And we're the wisest of our race other than the Four Kings. Tatsu, are you in there?"

Silence.

"Tatsu?"

More silence.

"Tatsu! Your mate's in heat!"

A grunt. The four other dragons were amazed, as it was well known Tatsu would never refuse his mate for any reason.

"Tatsu, you're scaring us. We need your vote."

The glassy green eyes finally cleared as the dragon came out of his mind. He wasn't really ready to come back, the gory images that played before his eyes refusing to leave.

"He's my son. What do you think my vote is? The prophecy said his river would be returned, but if he wants the child too, who am I to deny it when she is the one to bring it back?"

Black put a paw on Tatsu's shoulder in sympathy. It had to have been hard to see that done to the only child the dragon had.

"For the Record, Nigihayami Tatsu has voted to give Nigihayami Kohakunushi guardianship of this Ogino Chihiro upon terminations of his work contract with Yubaba."

"Arigato Fujiyama."

The four dragons watched silently as Tatsu began his silent trek through the winding passages to his own home within his mountain.

* * *

Words

Naginata - a Bo (staff weapon) with a curved blade (think mini katana) attached to the top, called a halberd in English. These were used by female warriors who served as guards for the female nobility outside their private chambers. The wives of the Samurai were expected to be able to defend the home in time of war. If anybody doesn't believe there were female warriors skilled in the use of weapons, just Google 'Ancient Japanese Female Warriors' and you'll find some interesting stuff.

Itachi - Weasel

Hime - Princess

Reviewer Corner

Fyraga: Yes. This is in between 'Underwater Savior' and 'Rivers Never Die.' I think chapter 1 is the only one that didn't end up with an original character in it. Then again, that one was supposed to be about the movie itself, so . . . ya.

Shamanbabe: I have a twisted mind, with lots of little side passages not even I know what's in there. I think that's how I do it.

Nitengale: Arrgh! It ate those words! I'll fix it, because yes, that is what I had written.

Katsy Kat: Things will come and go for him, but only as they relate to Chihiro. He won't remember how the river was lost, or what he was protecting her from. He'll just get vague impressions of feelings from time to time.

Red-sakura-wolf: She knows about what Chihiro is up to, finds it funny that the description Lin gave of Sen matched what Chihiro looked like around the same time, but doesn't connect that it was really Chihiro. Since she can't follow her when Chihiro leaves Kohakugawa district, she can only watch Chihiro when she is staying with her grandfather. Of course, during the summers is now when she is doing manual labor with the excavation crews in 'Rivers Never Die'.


	10. Musings of Identity

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 10: Musings of Identity

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Still not comedic . . .

* * *

Wind stirred the draping arms of the willow that stood by the river, causing them to dance in the air, rejoicing at the touch of her lover. I too, was affected by the warm breeze this late summer afternoon, pausing my carvings on the willow stick in my hand.

This was the kind of day that She would stray away from her mother, wander down to my river, and remove her clothing only to swim with the innocence of the three years she was in my slower moving shallows of late summer. At the time, I saw nothing wrong with it, people of all ages had bathed in me for as long as I was deep enough, and I would never let any wanderer take advantage of this little one. Her mother however, on the rare occasions she came looking for the child, was never happy about her unclothed state, even if she was only trying to please the mother by keeping her clothing dry. Really, trying to keep a three year old in clothes was like convincing Cat he was Dog.

Chuckling at the memory of the girl whose life I had once saved, I went back to my task. Shaving after shaving fell away, little curls of unnecessary baggage left in this peaceful spot to rot away and transform into something new. This project had taken shape nicely, and was nearly done, nothing left to do but the final touches. As this object had taken shape, so too had settled my feelings.

I tried to remember more of my life, from before her, but there was nothing. Even memories of the time I spent with her were few, and only came as they wished, phantoms that adored to tease me. With the time and distance between us, my remembrances had begun to dim again, fewer and weaker. With this, the need for something to busy myself during my increasing free-time became overwhelming. Hence, my decision on this project.

Yes, it was true that I could easily purchase one, but I had no wish to do so. In my opinion, if it was crafted by myself it would be a clearer channel for the expression of my soul. For others, it would have been fine to purchase their instrument of choice, lovingly crafted by a master musician. I, however, had experience carving flutes, and had almost always made my own. Or at least I thought so, it was one of those blank areas from before meeting my human that refused to focus for the memory.

My human, does that sound possessive or what?

I winced as memories of all the things I had stolen or the people I had hurt came back to haunt me. It had been so easy for the witch to control, plant little thoughts into my head to keep me bound to her. Thoughts of worthlessness and being weak, hopelessness at being unable to better my lot. Yearnings for something greater constantly had bothered me. That didn't include the dreams of the child that I had. The little human girl had been the one to weaken the spell, and even expel it completely.

I may be the Witch's thief and messenger boy, but I am much more than that. I was the master of a river once, and my magic had been powerful. It was proof for me that I could do better, and once I was free of this blasted contract, I would. I would make a good name for myself and repay the wrongs that I have done. This guilt that weighed on me was tiresome, and the things I had done were against my nature. Even my darker side had felt that way, even if only for having been manipulated into doing those deeds. On top of this was the guilt of failing my river, and the nagging sensation of almost having lost Chihiro to . . . something . . . someone.

'Blazes! Almost had it that time!'

The flute came to my lips as my eyes lost focus, singing its birth song, checking itself to find any flaws that needed refinement. The notes floated peacefully through the air, painting images to the mind of a small child who had danced and laughed at my side a summer so long ago. The flute, finding itself done properly, went on to sing of the child's growth without me, dreams of what she may have experienced before she touched this world.

In the time she had been here, she had freed the chained dragon, drawing him into the light again, taming him with soft eyes and a child's innocence. Emotions that had been long buried were unearthed, the nearly dead conscience yanked from its early tomb to gasp for breath, and the wounded heart beginning to heal itself beneath her unknowing ministrations. Loneliness, even if just for a little while, had been chased away. The flute and I sang of all of this, while the wind listened to me think.

Our parting had been bittersweet for me, unsure as I was if her parents would protect her this time the way they should. I wanted to follow her, hold her to my chest and shield her, keep her innocence intact and body free from harm. On the other hand, she was already a young woman trapped in a child's body, who had desperately been screaming for some measure of control over her world. Though only a girl-child, she had the spirit of a samurai, and I was certain she would one day make changes in her world for the better. I was proud of how much she had matured. My dreams for her would be hopeful, filled with success, wealth, friendship, strength, good health, longevity, honor, peace, and . . . love.

Could I wish her love? Yes, I could and I should. It was wrong of me to lust after keeping her to myself, to fantasize about stealing her away and hiding her where mortals could never experience the beauty of her soul. A life separated from all she knew, even if she were dressed only in finest silks and dripping with the richest gems, would be empty and meaningless for such a free spirit. I wished that one day she would meet someone who could support her, age with her, live with her, laugh with her, even if it were not me. I had missed my chance with her, not taking the opportunity with her in the garden or when we parted to lay claim to her, to make her mine in that aspect of herself. She was too young at the time, but it still would have been binding, just a short kiss would have been sufficient at the time.

I had not, and it was time to let go. These feelings were driving me mad, and I was slowly becoming cold again inside. She wouldn't want a thief for a mate anyway. I could wish and dream all I wanted, but what had it gotten me so far?

She was still young though, I didn't need to worry about this subject much for now. How old would she be? Ah, she would be about 17, that's right. Though in ancient times she would have been mated and reproduced already, in today's world she was still waiting. She would not be available for marriage until she had finished her schooling. Most people in Nippon these days were not married until their late twenties.

What did worry me was the fact that more women today were giving their virginity away before marriage or even engagement. In the past, a groom would make nightly visits to the bride-to-be after the proposal's acceptance, but only after the birth of their child or the death of her parents could they be considered wed. Personally, I thought this to be the best method, as it ensured the fertility of the pair. It was proper practice that the bride-to-be only gave herself to the groom during this time.

In fact, I had just recently talked to a tree spirit who had lost his Miko to the seduction of a fellow student in her school. It had been something called a date-rape, so it wasn't truly consensual in that case, or really even much of a seduction. What a dishonorable low-life, to take a woman like that. And according to this Ki-Kami, the boy had already moved on, leaving the Miko in a state of disgrace. Although the Kami would be happy to let her continue to serve him, the Daitoku of that Shrine had already driven her from her post.

Seduction was a fine art after all, and Ki-sama had also been trying to work his charms on the girl. The Miko had not realized that the comely stranger in green had been the one she served, and I wonder what would have happened if she had. It was the way I had wanted to work mine on Chihiro, to see if she would accept me, even not knowing what I was, and how part of me still wished to. There was something about her soul that drew me.

There were many other cases though that were consensual, girls even younger than that giving away their purity, and the state of the world worried me. Two more years and I would be free to go to her, to guard her and guide her in her life. I would keep watch over her and her children until the line was no more, loving them all, whether she chose me or not. That, I could do.

And tear apart any man that tried to take advantage of her, whether it was against the rules or not.

Did she even remember me, even if only in her dreams?

The musings of my flute took on a harder edge as the thoughts crossed my mind. Not liking the stirring of my darker self, the thought was stifled before he could rise. The one in my mind known as Haku had been put to sleep by the aspect called Nigihaymi after the tree's revelation over our sake. Judging by Haku's petulance, tendency towards violence, and . . . intense lustings after a certain human he felt affection for, that voice was an internal personification of my dark soul. This Nigihayami, bearer of my family name, must be then be my light soul, as he remained calm, centered, wise, and just . . . although he too held an odd level of affection for Chihiro. Something about that musing didn't feel quite complete however. Maybe he was more of what I had the potential to become?

If Nigihayami is possibly light or even potential, and Haku is dark, what does that make Kohaku? I no longer command a river and have not been given a new guardianship yet. I am a highly trained thief now, a sorcerer, a dragon, and will soon be leaving a position as a bath house apprentice. Yet, none of those is what I truly am.

What am I really?

Also, if my "I" is Kohaku, then what of Nushi? Or is he truly my light, and his non-presence the reason Yubaba so easily held sway over me? The juxtaposition of the names was intriguing. 'Haku against 'Nushi, 'Haku and 'Nushi, an odd balance in my personal name.

Where is the master that once bent the very waters of Kohakugawa to his every whim? Where is the "me" that was before Chihiro, who cared for the river and those in the regions around? Where is the history of Kohakunushi, and what is my proper place in my clan? Who are my parents and what do they look like now? The things that I should remember and don't are so strange, things that one would think everyone would know about themselves.

Would Nushi return once I was granted her guardianship if that was the Council's decision? Nushi, master, Kohaku, my river. Some spirits had to change their names when they took a new position, as you became what you watched over. Would my name then be Chihironushi, master of Chihiro? That name made my nose wrinkle in distaste with how over-possessive it sounded of a living being. Ok, maybe my name wouldn't be changed, or at least I hope not.

Please, Kami, don't let them change my name to that!

If I truly was fragmented, and managed to find a way to become whole, would I be able to stay whole? What if, once fragmented and then repaired, I was still stuck arguing with myself, over a new problem? Even worse, what if that was normal, and everyone was really that way, but hid it?

The melody died with my thoughts, and finding the flute satisfactory, I occupied myself with carving a dragon twining around it, coiling about it the way I wished to coil around my human. This ornamentation would serve to mark this as my possession, and serving to busy idle fingers for now. It would also make the flute more appealing should I ever get the chance to seduce the maiden. Although I had talked myself into allowing her a choice, if such was to be had, I still wanted to take her for myself.

Somehow, I knew that if a chance was offered, I would take it, no matter how much rationalizing with myself I had done these many years.

"Wow, Kohaku. I didn't know you could play the flute so well. Did you make that?"

I had been so deep in thought, I hadn't heard Lin join me, and wondered how long she had been listening.

"Ah-ah."

"Articulate as Kaonashi today, huh? That usually means you've come to an important decision."

"You know me too well."

"You're my friend Kohaku, of course I know you. In a way, you're almost like my brother, probably why I enjoy picking on you so much. I don't remember if I had any, my childhood was too long ago."

"Do you realize how odd it is for a dragon and yourself to be friends, much less like adopted family?"

"Go figure, huh? Come on, Yubaba has an assignment for you, and she says quit scrubbing your scales for now."

"Why couldn't she just call me herself?"

"She tried, but you were too busy thinking and didn't hear her. Those mental blocks you've been working on must be getting better, because she was PISSED! It was almost as good as when you bleed on that awful carpet she has."

Clearing her throat in preparation, the itachi spirit did a really good imitation of the short-tempered sorceress.

"That conceited dragon! He ignores me more every day! Lin, drag that boy here by his tail if you need to, but get him here!"

Attempting a smile, as I knew Chihiro would want me to live happily, I looked at Lin as we went back.

"The carpet must die!"

"Now THAT's more like the scruffy Dragon-Boy that came here. But, what would Chihiro say if she ever found out about your vendetta against THE CARPET?"

"It's not just any carpet though. It's Yubaba's _favorite_ carpet. I still don't get hazard pay, and since she doesn't stand a chance against me, it wouldn't be right to fight her over something simple. Far better to mess with her head."

"True. Maybe I should smuggle Bou some cherry juice, since he's spending so much time out of the nursery and exploring the office."

"No, not cherry juice. Blackberries are harder to get out."

"You're actually going to help me plan a prank? You're not as innocent as you act are you?"

She then remembered about what I had done to her hair and the static electricity bomb that had been waiting with my diary, answering her own question.

"Maybe, or maybe it's just because I'm still paying Yubaba back in ways that won't harm my contract and training."

* * *

Words:

Ki - tree

Reviewers:

sakura-no-hana-hoshi: Glad you like it. This one is tough for me.

Fyraga: We'll just have to keep reading his diary, huh?

NitenGale: Did you get the re-written version yet?

Avenging Neko Kira'Sha'Tect: Like the new moniker. Why'd they do it, a no-no? E-mail if you want it private and don't mind telling me.

Big book worm: I know, I cried after writing it. It took forever to come up with that correlation for 'Not Yet.'

MarianneLinley and SarahQuinn: Thanks, I bumped it up like you suggested.

Nikki Whitecraft: Thanks.

Only human: This is what happens next. Hope you like.


	11. Our Stuff!

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 11: Our Stuff!

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Back to the comedy.

* * *

Our entertainment for today opens with Kohaku holding up, by a slobber soaked and mangled strap, what had once been a new sandal. The key word here is once, as in some time between when he laid down for rest and when he got up. As time had wended on and he was dealing with . . . whatever had happened to him over the rest period, he had become a deep sleeper. 

The other sandal was no where to be found, which aggravated the poor dragon greatly as he had outgrown his others. In other words, he was shoeless, and was not excited about the prospect, since he had a mission _outside_ today. The thought of walking about shoeless in dirt that wasn't his own filled him with dread, while the suspicion of who had eaten his shoes made one eyebrow twitch.

'Blasted heads, they listened in on too many thievery lessons in my early apprenticeship.'

Taking a few deep breaths to keep calm, he allowed his darker soul temporary control of his body before it decided to bust out and cause some damage. The vibrant green eyes washed out and became greyer, closer to steel, and hard as stone. Containing his anger, Haku stormed out of his room, the evidence of the 'visit' still clutched tightly.

So annoyed was he, that he only narrowly missed running into one of the other male workers on his floor, who also was clutching the remains of a shoe.

"Watch it! Oh, so sorry Master Haku."

Haku noticed the mangled footwear in the frog's hand.

"You too?"

He nodded in reply. In unison, he and the foreman made their way to the lift, intent on confronting the shoe slayer, or more likely slayers. As they were about to summon the lift, the doors slid open, to reveal a steaming Lin, holding aloft a dripping and mangled manga.

"Haku! Did you sic the Kashira on me, thinking that since so much time passed since the shirt incident that I wouldn't connect it to you? It or they ate every last one except this one! Destroying a woman's manga is just sick and twisted Haku!"

"No, I didn't. Did you set them on me as some stupid joke again?"

"No."

"We'd better go confront Yubaba, then. It has to be one of her pets. Look at these teeth marks!"

Furiously shoving his mourned and expensive (as he was picky about the quality of his gear) zori sandal in her face, the chews did indeed seem to match the strangely humanoid pattern of teeth.

"Mine too! I say we have eyeball soup for dinner!"

Haku and Lin both looked wide eyed at the frog, surprised to hear him come up with the suggestion, as he was actually quite peaceful. Haku was the bloodthirsty one. Inside his own head, Nigihayami coughed in surprise, wondering if his dark side would actually drag the poor heads down to the kitchens to prepare cranium casserole or something. Yes, he too was angry with them, but he didn't want to eat them, since who _knew_ where they'd been if they had found the dirty manga Lin hid. Dragging himself back to the point of his thought as he watched the goings on from inside the safety of his head, he realized that something like that Lin usually said first. They all shook off the surprise though, as there were more important fish to fry - er, Kashira to catch. The lift actually moved quickly for once, the first time it had ever done it, and probably the last.

As the door swished open onto Yubaba's private floor, a furious scream could be heard billowing from her quarters.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! My boots!"

Of course, this caused Haku and Lin to smirk at each other.

"That almost makes it worth my manga. Too bad you didn't get a chance to read the latest one. There were a few suggestions you could use on Sen when you get to see her."

Haku, being the perverted part of himself, didn't even blush, just rolled his eyes. Nigihayami however, was ready to burn the next one that Lin was waiting for. Kohaku was occupied in mentally dousing himself with cold water. Sadly, it didn't help, because he was then reminded of the naughty swimming dream he'd had a couple nights ago.

"You and your hentai manga, it's surprising that you actually _read_ them instead of just drooling over the pictures. I would have thought the perverted fox would have been enough for you. This is not worth my shoes."

Grinning maliciously, Haku slammed the knocker . . . repeatedly. The echoes were lost to the witch's screams though, and the sound of her office being torn apart caused the frog with them to cringe. Performing their duty and recognizing the Apprentice who had gleefully abused the ugly knockers, the doors swung open, leading them to the office.

The three adventurers, uh, bath house personnel, desperately wanted to laugh at what they saw. Too bad they couldn't if they wanted to live. So, instead they all kept a straight face, using their indignant anger at the destruction of the little personal property they had accrued to cover their amusement.

Yubaba's office was a shambles. Vases were knocked over, a few broken. Lamps lay shattered about the floor. One of the pictures of Yubaba's ancestors had been ripped, while the others all hung askew like some demented American pop artist had hung them. Papers were everywhere, the desk overturned, and an unknown sticky substance of changeable coloration now obscured the blood stains Haku had forever etched in the preposterous Persian rug as well as the signs of Bou's little 'accident' with his blackberry juice. There was more damage, but it would take too long to describe how trashed the one pristine room was.

In the middle of all this chaos, bounced the three heads, 'oi'ing their hearts out and seeming to be having a grand time as Yubaba was chasing them with a rolled up newspaper. Both of her boots were thoroughly shredded, the remaining carcass of one still in the mouth of the alpha head. Apparently, the shredding of her boots had left her without a shred of reason, as she could have easily toasted them to cinders if she had thought about it.

"Those were my Mother's! How dare you!"

'Now I understand why she is so partial to those things, and why I always have to shine them when it's slow here.'

'Wow, Yubaba had a mom? That's just scary. I'll corner Haku later and see what I can get out of him. If anything, damn close-mouthed Dragon-boy.'

'Why does the mistress let these creatures get away with stuff like this? Why does Master Haku look enlightened about something? Why does Lin look ready to tear into Master Haku?'

Leaping over the desk, Yubaba actually managed to almost hit one. Almost, she fell on her face instead since she slipped on some paper.

"I'll get you! Bad Kashira, Bad!"

Fed up with the chaos, Haku stomped (barefoot still, and none too pleased about this) to the currently witless witch, snatched the newspaper, and used it to send all three heads flying into the wall.

"Enough!"

Pointing at the now terrified Kashira, he continued.

"You ate my zori, the foreman's zori and Lin's manga. Pay up! I know you've got money!"

There was a very good reason that she sent Haku when someone was late with their payment, not doing their job, or she needed something done the first time. He was truly terrible when angered. Even she was a little spooked seeing the boy like this. The heads shook a negative and looked at each other, clearly pleased with all the chaos caused and all the attention they were now receiving.

"NOW!"

Lin casually stepped behind the foreman, realizing how much of a good sport Haku had been when allowing her to attempt to torment him. Good thing, she'd hate to be on his bad side seeing this.

One of the heads thumped quickly out of the room, returning dragging a sack of gold from one of the bribes they had taken. This was left at Haku's feet.

"You . Will . Not . Do . This . Again."

Throwing the zori at the heads, he turned around to face the other two intrepid thrill seekers, uh, beleaguered bath workers.

"Come on, we're going to the market."

"Now just a minute Haku!"

"Yes, new boots. Don't worry, I'll be back in time for my mission and for them to work."

Without another word, he took dragon shape and sauntered to the balcony, motioning the other two to get on. They didn't want to, it wasn't safe to ride a pissed off dragon, but the look that he gave brooked no argument, so they complied to spare their lives.

A half hour later, they returned, new items in hand. Haku had even managed to find boots extremely similar to Yubaba's old ones. Lin and the Foreman made it to work, and Haku took off in a huff once she gave him his assignment.

'The boy will make a good guardian, he's finally learning.'

* * *

After his scheduled work hours, it took Haku quite a while to write his problems down. 

When he fell asleep, his dream was about a young woman, who was very familiar to his eyes now. So too was the room, a western styled mattress supported by a distinctly Japanese frame enshrined the sleeping form, Tenderly enfolding her with bedding of blue and green, the inner sheets a snow white. The walls too were white, the curtains a lavender purple like his sash. A finely detailed small dragon kept watch over her, emerald eyes reflecting a bit of moonlight, the body glowing with the moon's luminescence. The summer night heat had caused her to wiggle out of the flimsy top, leaving a good bit of her chest exposed to him, but not the part he wanted to see.

Noticing that his light side was sleeping deeply, as was his Kohaku aspect, he approached her sleeping body. Concerned with the flushed look she possessed, a cool hand was pressed to her forehead, causing her to snuggle towards it.

(Heh. They keep me locked up too much.)

"Haku."

She was obviously asleep. However, the way she murmured his name . . .

(What are you dreaming of?)

Her lips pursed, as if she were displeased with something. The pout was unresistable, and he found himself leaning down to taste of it.

(Might as well enjoy this dream, so rare to get one to myself, what with those two almost always keeping me suppressed.)

She was fevered, but it wasn't the good kind of fever this part of the river kami wanted to instill in her. She was sick, he could taste the malicious bacteria on her lips. Sighing, he lay down under the covers with her, touching every part of her with his cool waters to comfort her.

"Haku."

She was still talking in her sleep. Curious, Haku asked a question to see if she would answer.

"How old are you now, Chihiro?"

"18."

So, she heard him and answered. It was getting to be a strange dream, and even stranger since he wasn't sure if this is what she really looked like at this time.

"Will you wait for me?"

He nuzzled into her neck, pleased to smell his river and cherry blossoms again, the child's body having taken his smell long ago.

"Yes. OHHH, Haku!"

A banging sounded on the door, causing Haku to jump. It was irritating, he'd been enjoying the dream, enjoying trying to egg her into making the proper move and distract her from her illness. He also realized that if it was Nigihayami breaking into his wonderful dream he was dead meat, figuratively speaking. That thought woke him up.

(That was the weirdest dream yet!)

'What dream?'

((Go back to sleep, you two.))

Unknown to him, it wasn't really a dream. A short man with closely cropped brown hair and dark eyes burst into the room, sniffing suspiciously at the scent of the unknown male who had been in the room with his friend.

"Was it him again, Ryu?"

"Yeah, 'Wind. It was that blasted incubus again. With all the wards Koji and I have put in this room, not to mention Maiden Snake's, you'd think he couldn't get in here."

"Haku."

"Why can't we just let them finish whatever they are doing instead of interrupting it every time? She always sounds so frustrated afterwards."

"Haku?"

"One, if we don't she could get pregnant 'cause it smells like it's at least part dragon. Two, if this spirit takes her virginity, she can't be the Miko at the River Shrine when it's finished. Three, she'd kill us if she woke up one morning distinctly not virgin. Four, I just find it annoying that some spirit is trying to seduce her under my snout."

"Should we wake her?"

"Sunrise isn't for another hour, let's let her sleep a little longer."

* * *

Fyraga: Yup, it is an invasion. Oh well, that's what happens with a diary, somebody reads it. :cough, cough:

Sakura-no-hana-hoshi: Inspiration is a fickle master.


	12. Poison and Frustration

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 12: Poison and Frustration

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

Exterior POV

The dragon stumbled across the bridge, black oil trailing behind her and leaving filmy rainbows smelling of decayed plant matter to stain the wood. Her slender form collapsed, her head barely within the blue curtain separating the entry way of the bath house from the outside. The blue of her scales could hardly be seen beneath the killing film that coated her, and the seaweed that was her mane was browning from the poisons she had been trapped in.

She hadn't moved yet when the bath house came to life for the night. Her shallow breathing was barely noticeable to the panicked worker who found her.

"Help! Murder!"

The worker's cries sent the whole place into an uproar. Answering the screams of terror, our hero forewent the lift and jumped down from the floor he had been on.

* * *

Haku:

"What's going on here?"

The words died in my throat at the sight of the ryu-onna before me. I had seen some come in here for healing who were very badly hurt, but this woman was barely breathing.

"We need to take her to the big tub, that oil has to come off. I'll get help after we get her there, if others don't come first."

She was small as dragons went, and I could probably drag her to the tub in this form easily. Of course, to drag any dragon, especially our women, was only done under the direst of circumstances. I'd probably have her mate after my head if I did so. That left me only one choice. Luckily, I was still narrow enough that I could get through here.

Taking my natural form, I lay down and signaled the worker to drape the ryu-onna on my back. The poor thing was so light, that I would have barely noticed she was in position except for the slimy oil that coated her.

'What happened?'

I moved as fast as I could without fearing the poor thing falling off. It hurt inside to see any of my brothers or sisters in such a state. Her labored breathing and slow heartbeats were the only thing that assured me she was still among our living, since she was already as cold as the northern ice. The oil the humans harvested for their machinery covered her scent completely with its own scent, not even allowing me to get a general idea of her clan.

The smell of hot water and healing salts greeted my nose as I carried the tiny wisp into the room the large tub was in. Lin stood up atop the basin edge, monitoring the water level. I thanked Kami for her sharp ears and how quickly gossip spread. Quickly, I brought her into the tub, making sure that her head was draped over the side for air.

At the very weak response to the water, I couldn't suppress a tiny whine. It couldn't even be considered a wince, although the water was hot enough to scald me. The heat and salt began to break up the oil at least, and Lin had already begun to use cloth to remove the oil from her face.

I got out of the tub quickly, as it was not seemly for a young unmated male to be in the same bathing tub as a female unless it was the male's mother. Even then, it could be called into question if the male was older than 100 years old.

I couldn't control the shivers that trekked across my body once I was out. Something about the whole situation was playing on my nerves, like some great disaster had almost befallen me.

"Are you ok, Haku?"

I snorted and nodded, but it was too quickly, Lin didn't buy it for a second.

"Go on Haku, get out of here, grab some of the women and tell them to help me. When I'm done we'll get her to a room. Can you handle the medical, or do you need to let Kamaji do it?"

A vigorous shake of my head and a paw lifted towards myself. I knew dragon physiology much better than Kamaji, and he'd taught me what he knew about healing on the sly, adding to what I had learned from Yubaba about it. Magic users had to know about healing to employ it well.

"If you're sure."

I'd finally calmed enough to take my human shape again, which I did quickly.

"I'm sure Lin."

I ran into some of the women half-way down the hallway. I couldn't believe how they were laughing and tittering, like nothing had happened at all. Just because it hadn't turned out to be murder after all didn't mean it wasn't serious still.

"What are you laughing about! There is a dragon in the big tub dying from oil poisoning! Get in there and clean her up, otherwise if she dies I will hold you accountable for poor response to her emergency!"

That sent them running. Good. They needed a little fear in their lives, they had become too fat and complacent. I must have been louder than I thought, because soon the entire female population had fallen into their proper tasks.

'Why does this one affect me so?'

While they were bringing fresh clothes for scrubbing and all the other necessaries, I had gone to round up what I would need for her, various antidotes and strengtheners. When I looked up, I found Yubaba looking at me appraisingly.

"Is there a problem Yubaba?"

"No, just noticing how far you've come. Good job with her, carry on."

With that, the witch went back to her quarters.

After what seemed like hours, the oil was removed from her person. She had taken a human form after the fifth tub of fresh water, seaweed hair still looking abused and tattered, but at least clean. The small woman was currently resting on a plush futon, and I monitored her each breath, tipping a bit of medicine into her from time to time.

Hours past, then my ministrations were thanked with a soft groan, and she struggled to sit up.

"Not yet, you're still too weak."

Her eyes snapped open, twin pools of wild wetness deep and dark as the ocean's deepest depths. A moment of dazed disorientedness and desperation lapsed as she attempted to piece together what had happened.

"Where am I?"

"Safe."

We passed a moment in silence as I checked the dilation of her eyes, her temperature, and pulse.

"We found you only just barely inside. What happened?"

"I was brewing a storm for the inland. There was an oil tanker. So much oil."

I shivered. It was a sea dragon's worst nightmare. I needed to hear no more.

"You don't have to say more if you don't want to."

"Thank you. Can I see the face of my healer?"

I moved carefully around her so that she could see me, and her eyes widened. I saw hurt and understanding in her eyes, as if she recognized me, and knew I didn't recognize her.

"Thank you again. I - I have to go now."

Somewhere deep inside herself, she found the energy to bolt, the only evidence of her visit the mess that was still being cleaned, and a generous payment piled on the bed. Where she went, I had no idea.

I went upstairs to make my report to Yubaba. I remember that clearly. About half-way through, I must have blacked out, because I awoke on the floor, kneeling, and feeling quite nauseous as if I had gone for far too long without food or water while laboring in the hot sun.

I'm not positive that I truly blacked out though, because I can retrieve flashes, of watching an at first unknown woman, seeing her fall, catching her, and Chihiro's sent of my river and cherries. Yubaba says that I faded from her sight, but why? And why don't I remember more coherent thoughts, instead of just rushed impressions? It felt like I had fallen into some kind of daydream, as if I was being called somewhere. Was that even possible though for a god without his physicality and without worshipers?

* * *

Nyuuhakushoku:

The she-dragon took refuge within her mate's mountain while the environmentalists did what they could to clean up the oil-spill in the China Sea off the coast of Hokkaido. She desperately wanted to help, but didn't dare, as the noxious substance was still too much for her to take. Instead, she encouraged the humans who were helping her, lending them whatever strength they needed.

There was one human in particular that helped in her own small way that Nyuuhakushoku found intriguing.

It was a little Miko, deeply involved in a restoration project of her own, who appeared on the human news one day as she borrowed her mate's view mirror to check on the wonderful humans who were gaining her favor. Her speech about the need to stop polluting the environment, even accidentally, and taking responsibility for mistakes, had been very moving. It seemed it was an impromptu speech, as the background was an area that had been freshly dug.

Her cheeks were glowing with health, although she looked a bit put out about being taken from what she had been throwing herself into whole heartedly. When the speech was finished, and the child-woman had expressed her support for the cleaning of the spill, the camera panned back. The landscape was familiar, although altered a bit from the last she had seen it. The Miko gleefully hopped back into the channel working on lengthening it by hand as the machinery was all out of gas again due to budget constrictions.

"Tatsu! Isn't that -"

"Yes. It is. She's done quite well digging him back out considering most of the time there is no money to run the machinery, and they are all volunteer workers. I think the council will be pleased to give him both, don't you? Not much longer until they make the announcement."

Tatsu drew the curtain back over the view mirror, giving his mate a stern look.

"Rest."

* * *

Chihiro:

Chihiro felt uneasy for a time while digging. It was like unseen eyes were watching her, studying her, dissecting her. Pausing in her digging to look around, she saw everyone was still busy digging. Looking up to the shore, she swore she had caught the flash of long raven locks as long as his arm twisting in the wind with billowing white sleeves resembling a churning rapid. His hakama had been an eerie blue, a shade she couldn't even put a proper name to only stirring gently in the fierce wind that made the rest dance. Green had woven itself around the hems for both haori and hakama, waves of the sea to fool the eye with movement, and the man had clutched a staff in his right hand, making her think of some wandering priest of days gone by. His jade eyes had captured her, claimed her, and she had a flash of a boat ride, and falling. Then it was gone, and so was the man she could literally see through, like he was merely a holographic projection in those cheesy sci-fi movies Ryu liked. He was a man who hadn't been there, and the odd thought crossed her mind that he _had_ been a projection from someone hidden deep underground as he waited. Why did that give her the butterflies?

It had to be a hallucination. It was long past lunch time, and in her eagerness, she had forgotten to eat yet again. She didn't know why the thought of bringing back the river thrilled her so, but every time she thought of the waters running free to the ocean again, she felt . . . electric. Well, not really, but she wasn't certain she could feel _that_ for a river. Weren't you only supposed to feel that way about boys?

Stranger things had happened though, like the little green snake that liked to follow her around when she walked in the forest. The same little green snake who currently was wrapped around a branch in one of the trees overhead watching the male helpers with what appeared to be distrust, and then glancing worriedly and thoughtfully up river towards the springs that hopefully next year would feed the river.

Her beloved river.

'Gak! My beloved river? Where'd that come from. And why do I keep feeling all hot and shaky _every_ time I think about the river? Come on Chi! Cold showers, ice cold showers. Ugh! Why does that make it worse? Oh, right, the dream swimming with the guy that won't keep his hands off me, and then changes to that dragon and just curls around me watching the water bead on my skin. Ah got it! Dad at lunch-time! Yeach, that helped.'

Her stomach protested the lack of food loudly, an enraged dragon that would not be denied, and she felt a little faint. From behind, a pair of strong arms swathed in mid-length white sleeves caught her before she fell, oddly transparent, and a tantalizingly familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"That's enough, Chihiro. Time to eat."

The voice she had only heard in her most tantalizing dreams, a face and form never quite seen (but certainly felt, and when she found whoever she finally gave herself to, she certainly knew what to expect) had licked its way down her neck to raise goose-bumps down her back and arms, not to mention bringing _back_ the strange watery sensation that had been flooding her being. She turned around to confront the man for daring to catch her, but all that greeted her were two footprints in the earth. She had been expecting a tall male with hair falling about his shoulders like a tiny waterfall, lean and muscular, with a chin that had felt rather pointy. The body had felt very familiar from behind. Now absolutely convinced she was hallucinating, Chihiro went to the mess tent and grabbed some fruit and cold-cuts that had been on ice, accompanied by a big bottle of clear water. And Midol, she could just feel her time coming on. Yeah, it wasn't the other, nah, not thinking about a river.

'Maybe that's it. Ghosts. Supposedly women are more psychically sensitive when they've got PMS. Yeah. Except for the fact that the moon is full and I'm due on the new. Stupid female hormones.'

Exasperated, she drank half her huge bottle, then dumped the rest over her head. The feeling didn't go away. It just got worse.

"Looks like tonight I'm going to have active dreams again. Ryu better not dump water on me though to wake me up, it doesn't help anymore. Just makes me more frustrated. Wish I knew what is going on, but there's no way I'm talking to Ji-san about these dreams, and mom would just want to know if he's a boy from school and when is the wedding."

* * *

Yubaba:

Back in Yubaba's office, a tired looking Haku rematerialized before his master, knees buckling as he had taken Chihiro's fatigue away from her.

"What happened boy? Where did you go?"

"I don't know. I was making my report to you . . . then here I am on the floor."

"You don't remember anything while you faded?"

"Flickers. Of a river that isn't."

Yubaba made a mental note to speak with her sister about this. The time for the Council's decision was approaching soon, and this fading of his had become worse. As much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to worry about the dragon.

* * *

Reviewers:

KatsyKat: Tie-ins are what make a universe! Oh dear heavens, I'm writing a universe now? Guess I was more impressed by the movie than I thought.

JessicaKittyDemon: (White Death) Half a box? Well, here's a virtual box of tissues for you.

Red-sakura-wolf: (Courting the River Maid) It was meant to be a one shot, but with other romantic days in the year, I might find something else. Maybe. It depends. (Promises) It's meant to happen before 'Rivers Never Die,' so they don't meet in this one. Just really close.

Oceanic Goddess: ok!

Fyraga: Yes, Haku can be naughty. But at least his intentions were to make her feel better. If he had fully realized it wasn't a dream, would he have still gone in? That would probably depend on how naughty he felt at the time. As I continue researching the old stories though, I begin to see why it wouldn't be good to associate with spirits as romantic partners.

* * *

In the office of the author while reading reviews:

The author is currently hung on the wall like some neo-gothic wall ornament, dangling placidly from a deer rack that somebody gave to her for their own obscure reasons. Against the opposite wall, a computer monitor glows uncaringly, a chapter half-finished occupying the screen.

"So _you're_ the one who has been reading my diary. Don't you get the concept of privacy?"

"Yeah."

"So why?"

"It's fun to push your buttons."

"How does your husband put up with you?"

"Chocolates and deep tissue massages. He bribes me."

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR."

In frustration, Haku has pulled at his hair, stopped only by the door bursting open and a big brown river of scale sweeping into the room, a two year old and four year old squealing in glee on his back. They are also bouncing up and down on the poor think like little demons, all wound up on birthday cake.

"Dragon. Dragon. Mama gave us a dragon!"

"Ten, what happened to you?"

"Writer's block plus her eldest's birthday on the 13th."

"And they're still on you?"

"The curse of sugar.Kohaku, if you can get them off the poor guy, it would be a miracle. We all could sleep. When you have kids, never give them chocolate cake. Ever."

"_When_ I have kids?"

"OOOO. Look little brother, another dragon!"

"O crap!"


	13. Hallucinations, Tea and Magic Bras

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 13: Hallucinations, Tea, and Magic Bras

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

You are _not_ going to believe what happened today.

The foreman was sick today, having contracted some new froggy flu that was making itself known. Thankfully, it wasn't life threatening, but it was bad enough were he couldn't see straight. Who would be crazy enough to be working near somebody who walked into walls insisting he was fine for work?

He had actually made a small dent in the wood, but you could only see it if you had really sharp eyes. So, I ended up being the lucky one to fill in for him since Yoruiki hadn't been trained for this yet.

Sadly, I also had to listen to my immature aspect ribbit to itself somewhere in his lair in the back of my head, in between bouts of laughter. Who knows why, it wasn't like it was the first time we had to do this job.

Knowing him though, he's planning something, because he's been very calm lately. Well, calm for what seems to be a hormone-driven teenager bent on being the dominant one and having crazy dreams. Have you ever woken up with a white lacy bra in your hand, wondering how it got there and why the maniac is whistling like he got sated? It's creepy. Especially when the bra has 'Ogino Chihiro' marked on the tag with laundry marker.

I think Lin's been sneaking in my room while I'm asleep and playing jokes again. That has to be it. Right? I mean, you don't wake up from an erotic dream and find a bra in your hand normally. It's a very sick and twisted joke. Of course, Lin denies everything and wants to shake the person's hand for being so creative. It has to be Lin though, there isn't anybody else here who knows me _that_ well, and there's no such thing as a magic bra.

Is there?

I didn't think so.

It's too quiet in here, he's up to something.

I shouldn't even be having those dreams. I feel like I'm dishonoring her with them. Haku however, he's a totally different story. He can just popup with something that although related to what's going on . . . has to do with Chihiro.

'Pervert.'

I'm rambling, back to the subject.

What I was originally supposed to be doing today was tea tasting. We had received a new shipment, and most of it was completely new stock to us. Things like vanilla, cherry, and some fruits that I was pretty sure weren't even from our hemisphere. Then again, I'm not an expert on _everything_.

Being the one with the most refined sense of taste in the bath house, since Yubaba could only taste tobacco with all her smoking, and Yoruiki had no sense of good taste _at all_, I had to pull double duty. In this case, it was a good thing. Stand around and smile at people all day, boss workers around, _and_ try new teas? For once, I was pretty happy with my job.

I didn't have to boss anybody around today either. I guess they were afraid to spoil my good day.

The vanilla tea was quite nice, very smooth and slightly sweet. Passion fruit was okay, but nothing to crow about, I pawned that off on a visiting South American spirit who had tracked the smell down excited we had her favorite. My favorite was the cherry, sweet and dark with a heady aroma and somehow managing to merge the sweetness of the late summer fruit with the spring blossoms.

The last one that the kitchen worker brought to me was something called Earl Grey, and had been bought with Yubaba and her European visitors in mind. I will never drink it again. Ever. They like it, they can keep it. Yuck.

1. It was bitter. I never take my tea with sugar, and this definitely needed it. A lot of sugar.

2. I didn't like how it smelled. This and coffee are definitely on my do not drink list. I can't see how Yubaba can drink either.

3. The name. _Earl Grey_? Now, Cat's Paw or Devil's Claw I can understand (they're the same plant, help women with their, well, problems), but Earl Grey? It makes me feel like I'm drinking tea made from humans. Humans do not make tasty meals. I don't know how I know that, so don't ask me. They just don't.

4. It makes you see things. If it doesn't then it conceals additives with hallucinogenic properties very well. When I put down the cup, I saw Zeniba.

That's right. I saw Zeniba, solid, standing right before me and looking like she was expecting me to pop right out of existence before her very eyes. It was very creepy, since there is no reason for her to come here. Then, of all things, _she_ popped out of existence. Everyone else just continued on like this was normal.

I handed the frog back the tea and bent forward to pass my judgement so the guests wouldn't hear.

"Passable, serve with optional sugar. Write down on my list of things I will not eat or drink Earl Grey tea."

"Master?"

"Just do it."

"Yes Master."

After work was over, Kohaku scribbled down his day and went to sleep.

* * *

"Well Zeniba, what do you make of it?"

"He's not all here, Yubaba."

"Yes, we all know the dragon is going crazy missing his pet. And it's pretty obvious he's not been sleeping well due to dreams about her. I mean why do you think he's been fading."

"But that's just it. Not all of his being is here. It looks likes he's missing a rather large chunk of himself, throwing all of his godly aspects off."

"You mean you think an aspect is not present, but hanging around somewhere. Since they share the same life force, wouldn't that eventually kill them?"

"Exactly."

"That would explain why he so was so hard to control, even for a dragon. I didn't _actually_ have all of him under control."

"Probably. Amusing how easily Chihiro squished your slug. With her foot no less! It's too bad she couldn't have stayed and gotten some training. That child had potential."

"Hmpf."

"I'll see what I can do to find the missing piece or pieces. With luck, we can fix this before he fades out completely and permanently. Oblivion is definitely not what he deserves."

There was a flurry of paper, and a flock of shikigami rose from the floor and out the window. The effect of their flight was like a white river flowing through the sky, soon lost to the moonless night.

* * *

The kitchen frog brought the cup and teapot back to the kitchens. He was very confused over the level of the tea.

"I'm back!"

Putting the teapot on the table the kitchen workers were allowed to sample and snack from, he then quickly went to the cabinet to pull out the scroll of items that Master Haku refused to have served to himself.

"Didn't he like it? He drank the whole sampling pot with the others. Especially that cherry tea, that was gone quickly."

"Nope. Don't know his reasons either. He says Earl Grey needs a sugar option."

One of the other frogs took a sip of the tea in question while the first frog unrolled a very thick scroll to scratch quickly at the bottom (right underneath 'Lin's cooking - she laces the food') before putting it away again.

"Yeach! It's bitter. But then again, so is sake. He loves sake, so bitter probably isn't the most important reason."

"Who knows. Maybe he just had a bad thought about Sen Tea."

"Hehe. Brought on by all the bras he's been feeding the boiler. I tell you, Lin is a genius at practical jokes. Where's she been getting all the bras though? They're western underwear."

"Yeah, who would have guessed he'd get so embarrassed at that subject."

The kitchen was in an uproar laughing over how he had screamed when the first bra had shown up. It had literally resounded through the whole bath house, except the upper level.

* * *

When Chihiro awoke in the morning, she found herself missing a bra once more. Down to her final one, as all the others had either mysteriously disappeared or been neatly sliced in between the breast cups, it was definitely time to go shopping. The neat slices were odd, the fibers looking like some kind of claw had just . . . been lifted through or something Getting dressed, she met BlowingWind outside before the sun rose. Waiting for the sunrise, they greeted Amaterasu as she set out on her daily crossing of the Heavens.

"Ready to go to the store?"

"Yup. Clothing store first."

"Again?"

"Yeah, completely gone and no trace."

"What a cheeky ghost. So, was it the long haired one or the one where it went to his shoulders do you think?"

"I can't remember. What makes you think it's one of the Apartment Ghosts?"

"The sightings have been most frequent in areas that you hang out in. Everybody on our floor has seen them heading for our apartment at some time or another or looking absolutely confused."

"I'm sure there is a better explanation of where my undergarments are going than ghosts stealing them. Maybe I've been sleepwalking and throwing them away."

"Chi, we've been checking the trash. No go. Besides, with those green eyes you keep drawing all over your notes, it has to be one of those two. I've seen them, remember? Both of them have eyes that look just like that. Besides, there are certain times of the year that its supposed to be really easy to transfer stuff between worlds."

Later, at the mall, the two women were perusing the ladies undergarments. Chihiro was filling a hand basket with many packs of underwear and bras, stocking up in case they kept going poof.

"Maybe you should get some lacy see through ones."

"No."

"Well, maybe whatever is doing it just likes to look at you. If he can see through them, maybe they'll stay on."

It was a sound supposition, and worth a shot. Several of the garments in question joined the normal white ones. After making her purchases and going home, they took the time to label each and every one, as well as writing on them 'quit stealing my underwear you hentai ghost.' When it was once more time for her to sleep, she followed 'Wind's itchy suggestion.

Those were the first to disappear, not even getting a second running, both top and co-ordinating bottom. Chihiro had reached a conclusion. One or both of the ghosts that were haunting her were perverts. If she ever got a good look at the one who did all the ahem . . . _stuff . . ._she was going to track him down and fry him. Spiritual powers or not, bras are expensive.

* * *

Below the former and future headwaters of the Kohakugawa, Nushi was pacing yet again. His friend, seated at a desk behind yet another mountain of paperwork, Ten peeked around the great mound of false snow.

"I was so close! She was right there! All I could project was an image though, not myself."

"Nushi, you faded again didn't you?"

"Yes! I did! I was so close to being able to touch her. I hate being stuck in this spring, not being able to stay above."

Giving up on getting any further through the red tape that every Chinese or Japanese god feared and dreaded, Ten left his Desk of Horror. Ok, so it was his own fault, he'd never had the patience to keep up with it the way Kohakunushi had and the way Nushi still did. Ten could now see the slightly shiny path where his friend was accustomed to tread.

"You're wearing a path."

Negligently, the former master of the river stepped to another place to pace.

"He's taking long enough to get here! Doesn't he realize what's going to happen if we don't rejoin soon?"

Ten shook his head, remaining in the shadows. The normally placid spirit was working himself up again. If he ever lived to have pups, Ten was going to make sure that they knew he could actually have an expression other than a smile. Occasionally he could be completely flumoxed. Hopefully, time would play out where the two could look back at moments like this and laugh at how stupid they had to have looked.

"Nushi, he's probably been having fading problems also. Don't you think that maybe there's a good reason he can't come yet?"

"So? I may hold most of the power, but he holds most of our presence. Chihiro is almost done restoring my river. What happens to her if I don't survive to re-inhabit it, and someone else gets it instead? What if it's a dragon who looks at her and says 'look, a tasty snack' or 'MMM. Barbequed Miko.' or otherwise? There are a few out there who actually do enjoy the taste of a maiden's flesh. There are plenty of mysterious disappearances without her own being added."

"Tasty."

All these years since children would beg for pebbles from his central channel, Nushi still had not gotten out of the habit of carrying a few pebbles around with him, safely tucked into a hidden pouch, and he made use of one by braining his sarcastic and perverted friend. His aim was true.

"Not like that! Be serious!"

"Sorry. It was 'tasty snack.'"

"Pervert. I don't want anybody doing _that_ to her either."

Ten heaved a huge sigh as his friend had begun to yank at his hair, having gotten no closer to any ideas on how to heal himself. It was scary, and the dragon's worries weren't focused on himself. He was only worried about the little human he had nearly died to protect. Ten was sketchy on the details, but had heard a bit about the little girl Nushi had been gushing about for the past several years.

The view mirror's surface stirred a bit, drawing his attention.

"Hey Nushi. Looks like your girlfriend went shopping."

Not even noticing the jibe at his extreme sense of connection to Chihiro, he kept up his nervous movements even as he answered.

"I hope she enjoyed herself. Did she get something nice? Books? Painting supplies? New outfit? Maybe a festival kimono?"

"Bags upon bags of bras and underwear."

That caused Nushi to stop his self-torture. If there was anything he had expected to hear less, he didn't know what.

"You're kidding."

"No. Look for yourself."

Chihiro and her American friend were putting away no less than ten bags, all full of packages of bras and panties. Nushi was stunned that anyone would need so much underwear, but then again, women might as well be a foreign species. It had to be a human thing. Quickly, he placed himself (back to the mirror) between Ten and the mirror, face tinged a line of pink across his nose and cheeks, arms spread wide as a crane's wings, his vast draping sleeves a temporary curtain to give his favorite human some privacy.

"Ten!"

Ten couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"The mirror doesn't lie. I wonder why she needs so much though."

"I don't care what you wonder. Stop thinking about her underwear!"

* * *

Several nights later:

The day had passed, and it was time to wake up and get ready again for work. Despite how much he yelled at himself, he really did enjoy his dreams about what he thought Chihiro looked like. Stretching himself like a cat as he worked on waking up, he noticed that today both of his hands felt like they were clutching something.

'Oh no. Not again. I locked the door. Don't be what I think they are.'

Kohaku was beginning to get really worried when he noticed the bras getting skimpier and lacier each time he woke up, lately accompanied by matching panties.

"LIN! YORUIKI! STAY OUT OF MY ROOM! THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

'Seven months to go. Then these stupid pranks will stop.'

(Are they really pranks? Do you think it will actually stop? Maybe you're just wishing really hard to know what kind of underwear she uses.)

((What are you up to, Haku?))

(Who me? I'm innocent of whatever you're thinking.)

'Since when are you ever innocent?'

(Maybe the underwear is magic.)

((Magic underwear? That's a strange thing to enchant.))

'Our dreams have been really life-like lately.'

((Yeah. The pup is up to something again.))

* * *

Reviewer Corner:

Lost-and-Lonely-Pheonix :Grabs shoulders and puts her back in chair: People are looking! Stop hopping! I stop where I do for a good reason. If you got frustrated at the last point, you'd shoot me for where I was going to stop this chapter. Don't worry though, there's more coming.

Mangaboylover: Chill, there's a bit to go yet. Haku now has 1 month till he hears his posting and whether he gets Chihiro or not, then six additional months till he gets to go to her physically. Note the underscored word.

Fantasywriter13: Thanks

Crazianimegirl: (Not Yet) Thank you.

Jaded image: (Courting the River Maid) Thanks, but I think sugar is better than the story. You can't use the story to sweeten tea after all. The paper you printed it on would just soak it all up and then you'd be left with a soggy story. :Looks at what she wrote.: Eh, I'd better go lie down before I hurt myself.

Fyraga: He fades because he's not whole. I got the idea of the 'realistic' dreams from some articles I'd read on projections and incubi. Basically the parts of himself are trying to find each other, but keep centering around Chihiro (guess why, and it's not sexual. Hints are in U.S. and R.N.D.). Although they sometimes fade at the same time, usually they don't, thus why Chihiro's dreams have been either about the short haired Haku, seeing the apparition of Nushi in the last chapter, or the dragon she dreams about in 'Rivers Never Die.'

Trallgorda: Writing more, and welcome!

Katsy Kat: Yes, all good things must eventually come to their end. Aren't you glad this isn't it!


	14. Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kokoro

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 14: Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kokoro

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

The Aramitama of Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi was banging his head against the copy of the desk that resided within the constructs of his mind, his chin-length locks swaying in time with the currents of his anxiety. The light of pre-dawn gave a dim haze to the indistinguishable shapes in here, The white of his haori and flash of movement being the only other thing than his noises to distinguish his position to anyone who happened to attempt a bit of mind reading.

Things had been simple enough at first, do what the witch told him, steal when ordered, and threaten people here and there. It was something that would have suited him, had it not been for the fact that he did not enjoy being ordered about by any being and the tasks that he carried out had little to no direct benefit to himself. Then she came, and brought forth a long buried part of himself, even giving back the name that he had been tricked out of. Now that he had his name, was missing the one that he considered his, and the disturbing fact that as time passed his balance was being thrown even further off, he had been pulled out of some kind of stasis and left a nice big mess even worse than the Big Tub.

The fifteen year old boy was desperately trying to come up with a new way of drawing Ko's (he refused to call him Kohaku unless it was necessary) attention to the fact that they had been _fading_ in between this and the human world. At first, he too had thought they were just really nice dreams, but after several times of coming back with _scratches_ on his back, and bruises in places, like just at the base of his neck, that thankfully he could hide, it hadn't been too hard to figure out that those 'dreams' were quite real.

If he hadn't egged her on so much, she would have been content to lay in the encircling of his spirit, instead of turning around and exchanging his caresses (albeit much more intensely). That was one of the few things he truly could say he felt guilty about, since he had no real way of knowing if she intended to do those things, and it was a very good thing he hadn't gone as far as he desired to with her. He had even 'borrowed' much of Chihiro's underwear in a desperate attempt to get his point across. He had also just finished leaving much of their saved gold as a method of reimbursement, and the poor girl was probably ready to call in the exorcist.

That also brought him to another problem that Ko was refusing to deal with and admit to completely. He didn't want to just be her guardian, inside the man he should be refused to consider the instances where a kami took a human bride, either through force or by wooing. Haku and Ko were the same, and what one wanted, the other did too, no matter how much the other would deny that it wasn't right. Haku knew it would nearly kill the heart that had only recently been discovered to beat within himself, to see her allow someone to pollute that purity of the pearl soul she was with the evils that often hid within another human soul.

Despite what Ko kept insisting, Haku knew that Chihiro would always be his. He had promised to protect her and to provide for her, and that was a vow that could not be revoked, even by the Council. If she could remember him, call his name consciously, he was certain the way to her properly would be opened to him, making his contract null as she was a prior obligation. She was like a little fish surrounded by sharks, her bright coloring drawing the eye just before a feeding frenzy, and he was terrified that he would not be there to protect her when her time finally came.

If she believed in him at all. He had the odd feeling that not only did she not remember him, she thought of everything as "some form of psychological construct brought on by too much studying." At least, that's what she'd been muttering after he had kissed her, and accidentally awoken her, getting graced with her wild eyes staring straight _through_ him, although she had certainly felt his presence and calmed back to sleep. Ko wouldn't believe that he knew what she looked like either. Ko was infuriatingly more stubborn than Haku himself, and that was really saying something.

(Like a mule pulling a heavy cart when it's something he doesn't really want to fully face.)

The broken pipes in the building she lived in weren't his fault though. They were broken when he got there. The whole floor she was living on had probably been flooded, It had been a simple thing to shut off the water, and the water had been really eager to obey him.

He could just come right out and say it, something like 'Damn Kohaku, haven't you noticed that we've been phasing between two worlds and it gets harder to come out of the Dark every blasted time? And by the way, take a good look in your heart.' But that would be no fun, except for being the one doing the mental yelling for once, and oh-so-important Ko probably wouldn't believe him anyway. Seriously, listening to your Aramitama is like a human listening to their 'Left Shoulder Dweller,' or usually a bad idea in other words. Just his luck he happened to be the Aramitama, or said 'Left Shoulder Dweller.'

But come on, he wasn't a trouble maker all of the time. Just most of it. Ok, so it was a good deal of the time, but it was always so fun teasing himself and watching it get internalized so the argument wouldn't show, and he was never allowed out to play which even he would agree was probably a good thing. Well, he could get impressions of being allowed to have a use a few times, but something told him he didn't want to know about those times. He never had liked how reserved the dominant aspect was. But that was probably also brought out so often by the Yuna always seeming to have been throwing themselves at him.

(EW. Not even I need sating that much. Slugs. Blech, they stink.)

The repeated and violent self chastisement / primitive brain stimulation must have awoken Nigihayami, because shortly a large river of palest scale and aqua mane padded in to this central room, banging himself against the door jamb in his state still somewhere between sleep and awake, vision and balance obviously not quite working yet. Moaning muscles stretched his sword shrouded maw, and a large yawn escaped his cavernous mouth as he plopped in his appallingly elegant manner on a rug on the floor, blearily rubbing the sleep crust from his jade eyes with one massive paw.

((Stop that annoying banging! Get yourself in trouble again, Haku?))

(Didn't get myself in it, we just are. And I'm out of ideas.)

There was another yawn as Nigihayami gave up on holding his head erect and settled for resting his head on his paws. Thankfully, Haku had stopped the banging, allowing Nigihayami to attempt to pay attention to his foil in peace.

((You've noticed the fading too?))

(And you didn't say anything about the underwear I've been snagging?)

((What was there to say? If I did, and he'd heard, then he would assume I was in on it too. And it's not the underwear that I want, thank you. You know how stubborn he is when it comes to admitting personal problems. It was a good touch though, definitely something he would not be able to pass off as mere coincidence, well, after the 20th time of Lin yelling 'I didn't do it!' Although she never did say that when it really had been her.))

(What do we do though? It can't be healthy.)

((What can we do? If he still insists that Chihiro's bras are a prank pulled by Lin or even Yoruiki, and insisting that his visions are merely dreams, there isn't much that we can do, short of stomping him into a box and taking over our body, which we both know wouldn't work all that well since we rarely agree. Don't you find it curious that we've actually got forms in here now, when we used to be disembodied voices?))

(We're being pulled apart, aren't we?)

((Most likely, pup.))

(I could really use some sake right about now.)

((I could too, but I will wait until it is necessary. Need appeasement again to keep control of yourself? Buy some after work.))

(I would if I could, you annoyingly calm Nigimitama!)

((Here it comes. What now? I'm still tired.))

(Well, I got presented with a bill the last time I found myself visiting Chihiro. It was rather expensive. I'd been planning to reimburse her anyway, since 'Kohaku' keeps burning them, before I can give them back, but she charged interest too.)

((You are in it so very deep when he wakes up.))

(Yeah, I know.)

((For an Aramitama, you do your job a little too well sometimes. Maybe you should hide out in the caves in the back of the mind for a while. Maybe sift through some memories and be useful while you are hiding.))

A feeling of steadily mounting alertness swept through the room like an electric current, and the dimmed lighting began to brighten due to the sun beginning to spill through the open windows.

((Duck out now, I'll distract him.))

The adolescent scampered out of the room and jumped off the balcony, becoming a young dragon as he was caught by a current of air. He jetted across the familiar and known terrain into the area that they had discovered only recently on their searches for their lost piece or pieces, and the river that wasn't anymore soon formed before Haku's eyes. Allowing himself to fall from the sky like a stone, he entered the small river without a splash or ripple, diving past ghosts of things that once lived in him and seeking refuge in the deep caverns below, all still within the mind of the part of Kohakunushi that had found himself so long ago at the bath house.

Meanwhile, Nigihayami heaved a huge yawn, then began to snore loudly as he stretched out in the sun now flooding the floor. The sheer volume rattled and echoed all around, jarring Kohaku out of the final stages of his sleep and causing the young man to look around wildly for the source before realizing it was one of the annoying personas within himself.

'Must you snore so loud? It's time to get up. So lazy.'

Nigihayami, knowing that this other part of himself still couldn't see within himself, didn't even bother to crack his saucer sized eyes open, but merely rolled over and scratched his back on the floor within. The sound of steely scale scraping wood resounded within, causing Kohaku to grip his head, distracted for now from the note in his right hand.

((Must you always be so industrious? I'd prefer a peaceful walk by the river to the decreasing need for our services here. Or maybe a swim. Yes, a swim would be wondrous.))

'Well, we don't have a river anymore, so we have to keep busy somehow. There is less than a month until when we hear from the Council what is to be done with us. Maybe you'll get your walk after all.'

((That would be nice. But are you wanting to work so much because you are wanting to ignore a problem? Some things that need to be looked at?))

'I don't know what you are talking about.'

((Uh-huh. I felt that shiver of fear. I know that you know what I'm talking about. But by all means, keep deceiving yourself if you must. If you can. OH, and you really should give Lin an apology.))

The deep voice in Kohaku's head fell silent, even the snores abating to soft breaths, and Kohaku opened his eyes again and put his hands in his lap, trying to ignore that gnawing feeling that he knew something was wrong. At first, when he noticed no bras or panties that smelled curiously like Chihiro had, save riper, he was very happy. The relieved smile was wiped off of his face though when he realized that there was a letter clutched in his hand. Curiously, he read it.

Dear Strangely Perverted Ghost (if you aren't just a

figment of imagination brought on by too much

homework, or a sign of psychological breakdown,

or some weird archetype of what I want in a man),

I do thank you for the marvelous and highly pleasurable

stress relief services that you have been providing

during my sleep. However, as you have also absconded

with numerous articles of private wear, I have to charge you.

They are expensive. So, this is the bill for what you

have already taken. If you plan to take anymore, I

suggest that you include extra money and descriptions

of what you wish me to wear. I am getting really

tired of buying so much underwear, the sales people

are beginning to talk. If you don't pay, expect to help

me with my Statistics homework, every night.

Please remit 42,088 yen or suitable equivalent.

Sincerely,

One very broke Ogino Chihiro.

November 12, 2002

There was an addendum scribbled below the date and signature in his own handwriting. Now absolutely certain that something was highly amiss, he continued reading, waiting for the Pillars of Heaven to break and bring the Sky crashing into the Earth.

Paid in full. -Haku.

P.S. Don't kill me, I'm part of you.

'Well, this can't be too healthy. Wait a minute! If he's been taking her underwear, what else has he taken the liberties to do?'

((Take another look at that little bruise where your shoulder meets your neck.))

'Please don't tell me that Chihiro did that.'

((Alright, I won't tell you _your_ Chihiro did it. Maybe you've been harassed by a Yuna.))

"This is going to be a bad day."

Getting out of the bed, he gave it a baneful glare, one that could turn petrified socks to cinder, maybe even put some color back _in_ Yubaba's hair. Deftly, his fingers flew over the ties that held his clothing shut, loosening them to change into fresh clothing, and then retying them with skill just as practiced.

Then Kohaku himself, not Haku, or even Nigihayami, had a thought of what it would be like to lay beside Chihiro. It was one of those short thoughts that occasionally manage to slip past even the most stalwart of barriers, catching him by surprise. His reward for such negligence in the ordering of thought was a short nosebleed, swiftly healed, but still making him feel like he had shamed his dear friend thinking of her in such a way.

Kohaku opened the door to eat breakfast and then see if there was anything he needed to do, finding himself greeted by Lin. One hand had been poised to open the door, the other carried a bucket of chilled water, which she had taken to using lately as revenge for blaming her for the 'magic bras'. The confused expression was so like the one he always envisioned Chihiro wearing in his more coherent dreams, involving books and strange formulae that may as well have been ancient spells for all the sense they made, that he felt the threatening tickle in his nose. Without a word, he desperately bade his mind distract himself from the thought.

The water in the bucket began to roil, still chilled so that condensation formed on the outside of the wood. Gathering force and momentum, it sprang from the pail, eager to do the bidding of a water deity. However, instead of it landing on Lin as he had intended, he drenched himself.

"I've never seen you do _that_ Dragon-Boy. Maybe you should go lay down before you hurt somebody, most likely yourself."

He was right. It was just one of those days. Breakfast was already eaten up, and everyone wanted to know why water was drenching him every time he got too near. Good fortune shined on him for one moment, when a frog postulated that it had something to do with the moon, which hid the fact from the others that his older self was deciding to be a pain. On top of that, he had to go and find some Sea Sword or such that had been lost 16 years ago after some battle, purported to have defeated a powerful dark spirit. Yubaba wanted the power of this legendary sword for herself, and the fate of the owner was unknown, just as most of the lost relics that had turned up since he'd entered her service. At least it was in the area that he had once come from. If he was lucky, he would get a glimpse of Chihiro as she went about her business in her world that ran so closely and infuriatingly parallel to his own.

Something good came of the day though. Once he recovered (and only Lin knew he was having a supremely bad day) he managed to apologize to Lin. Of course, now she too was getting worried about how the bras had been showing up and why. Secrets traded make for solid friends, and she may be a weasel, but she was a weasel with a conscience.

* * *

A few days later, in the apartment that Ryu, BlowingWind, and Chihiro shared, Ryu was puttering in the kitchen preparing the dinner meal. His richly brown eyes, like two holes in the earth where treasure lay hidden and giving only an occasional glimmer was one came near to unearthing the whole, twinkled in satisfaction as the meal came together. His hair was a mass of unruly black, tamed somewhat by a hairnet that he only used during food preparation. Sometimes, he would call out to the Miko who was up to her eyeballs in one of the most dreaded of college subjects.

In the living room, a very exhausted Chihiro was sprawled on the couch, her prim Miko robes a stark contrast to the extremely casual pose she struck. Her knees had hooked themselves over the back of the couch, leaving her feet to dangle loosely like shoes that some impish teen had tossed to hang over a power line, dainty feet clad in puffy white twin dragons that had blue tufted manes doing poor imitations of rivers. Likewise, her head lolled off the front of the couch, an under-ripe berry that absolutely refused to understand the statistics problem she was trying to solve, having suffered that most dreaded malady, the brain fart. Beside her, a book lay open to the exercises for the chapter, homework only half-way finished and due the next day. While she had been laying in this unlikely position in an attempt to get much needed blood to her brain, she had also been sipping a large mug of Student's Aid tea through a straw.

"So, Chi, had anymore 'late night visitors' lately?"

"Funny Ryu. No, I've slept quite well the past few nights, and nothing has been missing. The bag of gold and sweet apology letter sitting on my course books three days ago was a great prank though."

"Bag of gold? Apology letter?"

"Yeah."

"Can I see them?"

"Sure, hold on while I get them."

Chihiro was a fleeting mass of white and red as she went to her room, richly fertile hair spilling cascades about her shoulders as she had let it down for the day. Only a moment later, she returned with a small blue pouch filled with gold nuggets. Handing her best friend's boyfriend the blue pouch that had the Kanji for 'Haku', she watched a thoughtful frown spread over his face like gloom across the classroom right before a pop test. His nose, though it tried to stay still, flared the nostrils like the wind liked to do with her robes, and she had the distinct impression that he was searching for a smell or something.

"Chi, I've never seen this pouch or letter before."

"Does that mean this ghost is real?"

Chihiro didn't miss how carefully he regarded her, as if he were weighing whether or not she were ready for a sizable revelation. She felt like he was looking into her very soul, as if her thoughts and feelings were ruffled like the pages of a book. The feeling made her afraid, not of her friend, but of something precious being found where her soul had hidden it away. He continued on, but she had the distinct feeling that she wasn't being told something very important.

"It's possible. So, you like poetry?"

"It's a sweet haiku."

"Passionate River, Forgiveness beseeches now, Yearning my Sweet Sea? There's some hidden meanings in there, Chi. It reads like love poetry. Sappy love poetry."

"Tadaima minna-san! Who's giving Chi sappy love poetry? Anybody I know? Can't be one of your perverted pals."

BlowingWind closed the door behind her, returning for the night from her winter job at the local rest resort for stressed salarimen. Slowly, she removed her green heavy duster, leaving it on a convenient hook to dry in the entry. Slipping slothfully out of her black and red snow boots she wore for the winter commute, she put on her fuzzy black dragon slippers that she wore around the house. Chihiro always found it hilarious that her friend's obsession was black dragons while hers was white dragons. They seriously clashed with the old style of her work kimono, and the wild windswept look of her jaw-length hair combined with those made her look absolutely ridiculous. After the proper exchange of foot gear, she promptly hurtled across the living room, landing with a satisfied plunk on her favorite cushion that had been waiting for her, complete with piping hot cocoa that had been waiting for her arrival, compliments of her considerate beau.

"The ghost paid her for the stolen underwear and even wrote her an apology poem. But it sounds like a barely veiled love poem."

"Really? Actual manifested communication from the undead? Lemme see!"

Something inside Chihiro balked at this supposed 'ghost' being called 'undead' like some kind of zombie, but she didn't say anything. It was a silly notion, and this was one elaborate prank her friends were playing. On the other hand, it was rather nice to pretend that she had somebody chasing her that she didn't want to see hang upside down from a window for trying to get a kiss. However, on yet another hand, it could all be an elaborate scheme to get her to believe her grandfather's stories about kami being hidden in plain view, demon exterminations, and the few 'possessions' she had assisted with exorcizing. Occam's Razor came to mind, something like, when presented with multiple theories, the simplest is usually the correct one. So, it was most likely just something to get her to believe his stories.

Little did she know that somewhere nearby, although on a different level of reality, was a young spirit who was still fighting himself over something he thought he had dealt with already, swamped with a possessiveness that only his Aramitama seemed to freely admit the full scope of.

* * *

A/N:

Chihiro billed Haku the equivalent of 400 US.

Reviewers:

Lost-and-lonely-phoenix: Ya, you probably should update someday, huh:Peeks in on Phoenix's fics, gets hit with a flying shoe.: Wanna borrow a shield?

Mangaboylover: Yup. Just for you. Fractured spirits are confusing entities.

Fyraga: Close enough! Are you sure it was really Lin? Maybe it was one of those red herrings I love so. :ducks a school book.:

KatsyKat: Haku's getting really annoyed at Kohaku right now for not listening. And really, what screams 'pay attention' louder than magic bras?

Kohakunushi Aspect Recap:

Nushi - the Aspect that possessed most of the memories and magic. Part of the Light / Yin / Nigimitama. Stuck inside Ten's spring right now.

Kohaku - The part that went to Aburaya after 'The Incident.' Composed of Nigihayami, Haku, and Ko, who thought of himself as Kohaku. Began to age after Chihiro had given back his name and unlocked him from the stasis his mother had put him in.

Haku - Remember the annoying teenaged 'head voice' with the dirty mind? Kohakunushi's Aramitama or dark / wild aspect, and the part that Yubaba was able to turn into her obedient (or so she thought at times) thief and henchman. He only started getting affected by male pubescent hormones _after_ Chihiro left the bath house, and drove 'Kohaku' near crazy, gaining power as more and more of his river was unearthed.

Nigihayami - Both Potential and part of the Nigimitama (peaceful soul), he attempted to keep Haku under tabs, although he also had his less-than-pure thoughts about the human he had come to love (although in these thoughts she had also aged appropriately relative to his maturity). Often took over when 'Kohaku' was occupied with 'Haku.'

Ko - His innocence and peace of mind, which Nushi had noticed he had lost after the Split. If pressed to give Ko a separate face, he would have been the little guy who hung out in the shadows of what was presented at Aburaya, but really he thought of himself as 'Kohaku'. Also part of the Nigimitama.

Kohakunushi - What the others around him see as his self. Also in the internal plane his properly balanced state, where both 'halves' are working in sync. This spelling is the whole being, while Kohaku Nushi denotes an acknowledged incomplete state.


	15. Test, Familiar Katana, Misfiled Memories

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 15: Test, Familiar Katana, Misfiled Memories

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Serious stuff. Only a sprinkle of comedic antics.

* * *

"You be careful Dragon-Boy, ya hear? I don't want to bandage anymore wounds, unless you bleed on her carpet first and not all over our food!"

"So nice to know you care."

"Idiot, of course I care. Sen would probably hang me by my toes if I let you die before you fulfil your promise, Lover Boy, even if she doesn't remember at this moment."

"Quit calling me that! Fine, fine 'nee-chan' I'll be careful. Did you want me to get you a souvenir too?"

The sarcasm in his statement was odd, if you weren't Lin. Lin, however, had become privy to this hidden side of him, seen emotions that many had even thought him incapable of, ones that he only shared with a few choice people. At first, she couldn't stand the snotty boy with his cool demeanor and noble mannerisms, but after Sen had become attached to him, and seeing how attached he was to her, she began to see more than his false front that hid his insecurities and emptiness. In time, she thought of him as a brother, although older or younger she had no idea.

"Yeah, just a stick if you find a really good forest. Then I can at least pretend I'm in a forest again . . . maybe whack a few lazy frogs with it."

"Ok, now remember, you don't know where I went, I just disappeared again."

She watched her friend leave, picked up by the very winds themselves, and as she saw the sun gleam on his scales that resembled the froth in a rapid, and observed the way his aqua mane resembled a streaming river behind him, Lin understood how Sen could have fallen for the 'Master.' He truly was a gorgeous beast, and his wild independence would only add fuel to any attraction of a child seeking friendship and safety. They would make a good couple, if given another chance. Lin regretted not getting a chance to lock them in a broom closet together, and certainly would have found a way to do it if they had been older at the time. Maybe she should have.

Even if only to tease him about it years later.

'Hmm. Another art project that I could circulate, maybe get Yoru to post in the guy's bathing area so he'd see it. Yeah. Now, while he's gone, who should I torture - I mean play with. Hmm. I haven't messed with the Head Cook for a while . . .'

* * *

After my farewells with Lin were done, the winds picked me up, a strangely familiar wind kami smiling at me in his transparent way, mouthing words at me as we traveled together for my destination. He seemed quite comfortable with me, whistling endless tunes that only make sense to the other kami of his kind.

Yubaba had said that the rumors were that the sword had last been seen by a tree spirit who had witnessed a battle between one of the water gods of that area around the base of Sacred Mountain. He had been a young god, perhaps early adulthood, and a string of bad luck had been plaguing him. In the end, he went against a dark Greed spirit, and although he barely won the battle, he nearly lost his life and the sword disappeared. The site of the battle had been the threshold of the Sacred Spring of Life known by the Kami-gumi as Fukushinizumi. So that was where I would start my search.

The landscape of the Spiritual Counterpart to the area was virtually unchanged from when Chihiro was small, the kami all managing to hold their places, more than I would have expected. As I landed, I could feel that the veil between my world and Chihiro's was very thin here, and yet it still managed to keep me in my place, uncaring and unyielding to me.

There was an odd patch of ground where the grass would not grow underneath the blanket that the sleeping mother had drawn over herself, nor even the meanest weed. It was eerie how barren the spot was, as if something so wrong and evil had perished there, tainting the very ground until it could be purified. I had reached out to touch it seeking to know more, but the overwhelming aura of evil stayed me from doing so, causing the fine hairs on the back of my neck to rise while a terrible tsunami of de ja vu threatened to drown me..

Pulling my eyes away from the dreadful sight of the profaned site, I noticed how beautiful this place was. The pond was deep, replenished from water that welled up from the bowels of the earth. Trees stood sentinel over the sacred place, and rock joined the peaceful embrace of water. It was both familiar and strange, time having changed a few things here and there. Snow lay deep on the ground this winter, covering rock and root in mantles of frozen life, chilling my feet where I stood.

I began to feel a little faint, as if something were drawing at my life force, my essence, perhaps even my very soul itself. My hands began to fade, not quite as transparent as when my Chihiro had been fading in my world, but still more so than they should be. It is truly disconcerting, to see yourself like that, and I could understand how the Little Pearl who was my most Precious Treasure had felt that summer night so long ago. I couldn't let myself go, she was counting on me to keep my promise.

My flesh began to look solid again, which is actually a strange thing when you realize that I'm really just a bunch of embodied water wandering around that would have evaporated long ago without a purpose or left unreplenished. Never the less, it became so, and I was relieved. The problem that I had tried to ignore would not get better without attention, and it was just my luck that my waning reserves of life would flare up to complain while on a mission.

There was a strange pull at my senses away from the water, into the forest. It was as good a place as any to start my hunt, and so I followed where my intuition was leading. A short distance away, hidden by a growth of heavy bush, was a very small shrine, constructed of rock to house something. The pull had increased as I got nearer, and I could hear a slow and steady heartbeat from within the stone box, which was roughly the correct size for sword storage.

I thought it strange that such a thing would only be guarded by a lone bush, but as I reached out to investigate, my hand passed through a barrier, alerting me that whatever was inside was guarded by powerful wards, and quite powerful itself. It was so strange how easily I was able to pass through the shield, which let me through like we were part of each other, an acknowledging murmur chasing through my body.

The box itself was a different story however. The warning tingle of adversarial magic tickled my fingers only a moment before I felt the singe of heat at my fingertips. I also felt a little odd, as if something had tried to swallow me. Quite quickly, I yanked my hand away, placing the most burnt between my lips as I pondered what spell had been used to lock the box. A small smirk played across my lips despite their present task, a wayward and mischievous child enjoying a new challenge. It had been a while since I had been assigned a truly challenging task, and this would serve to quiet my worries and inner quarrels for a time.

In our system of magic, there are five elements, earth, wood, metal, fire, and water, and each gives way to the latter. In other systems, there may be earth, air, fire, water, spirit, ice, or any arrangement of other elements, either in groups of four or five. I was rather hoping for something outside my realm of magical studies to test my skill against, but when I said a spell to show me the system form, I was disappointed.

The kanji written in the field clearly told me I was working with the five from my own system, but not which of the five it was. Since it had burned when I touched the box, it had to be something adversarial to water. Earth and wood would only have drained my energy when set as guards, so they were not what placed itself against me. If it were water, my own element, it would not have burned either, the two forces would merely whirlpool in the fight for supremacy. This left either metal or fire, both of which had the potential to burn me.

'So which is it?'

Starting with the obvious, fire, I attempted to quench it with my waters. I felt a weakening within the spell locking the box, but the spell did not fully dematerialize. The sibilant sounds of a quenched fire resounded through the area, louder than I had expected, and a cloud of hot steam burst in my face to announce the departure of the element I had tested first.

Whomever had placed this was strong, and I smiled in appreciation of the effort of whomever had secured this item. This spirit, if spirit it was, happened to be well versed in element magic. There had not been only one element securing the object, but another as well. The only one left was metal, and as fire will make metal brittle, perhaps whomever had placed this had forgotten and put metal directly enshrouded by the fire.

I sent a focused blast of water where the spell seemed to connect, testing to see if the encasement would shatter. When it did not, most thieves would have groaned in frustration, but not I. The only thing that could have made me smile more would be if someone had given me a heaping plate of cherry mochi and told me that if I ate it all I could keep Chihiro as my prize. After all, challenges are so hard to come by now that I'm being phased out.

So, since the spell didn't break, that meant whoever had done this knew that fire could forge metal from the earth (Iron ore from the Earth's mantle). The interaction of water and fire had turned this into steel. As I thought of the fastest way to defeat this new piece of the puzzle, I could not keep from murmuring to myself, or from holding my chin in thought as I crouched like a looming rock.

There was a possibility that the sword wasn't even in there, but hidden elsewhere and this was just a decoy filled with some hungry nameless demon. Of course, since I'd gone so far, it would be a real waste of magic to just quit now, and really, it had been a while since I had been in a good fight. My Aramitama had sworn off of taking Chihiro's underwear once I had found where he was cowering within my being. Of course, this meant that his mischievous ways had to be curbed in other manners, hence my extreme enjoyment of both this mission and the thought of getting in a fight. There was no way I was letting him have sake if I could help it, his impaired judgement would leave us way too open to Lin's endless pranks.

However, I could hear the rush of a river raging inside the box to be let out, the roar of ocean waves calling the waters home, and the trickle of where they emerged shyly as a maiden from the lap of a great mountain. This is where Haku my Aramitama decided to get distracted, as water made him think of Chihiro. So much for keeping my mind off her for a while. What did that girl do to me? Was she some kind of young witch who didn't know it and entrapped me within longings for her sweet scent?

I had to stop that thought. There was too much possibility of Haku running along that line. Inside my head, I could hear scuffles as what passed for my Nigimitama shoved Haku in the dirt, desperately hoping to ground where that thought was headed so the three of us could pay attention to the outside world.

I supposed I could have tried to smash the metal beneath heavy earth, but that would take a lot of that elemental power, which I moved _through_ not was. Therefore, that was out of the question. Wood gives way to metal, and I wasn't a wood spirit either, so that was doubly no good. Fire could have been used to brittle the metal ingot most assuredly hidden inside the box securing the spell, but to channel true fire for me would have been a death wish. My element is water, which not only encompasses that water which is most familiar to all, but also the waters of the air that most people do not even realize are water. Perhaps I could rust it then with the combination of the earth and sky waters?

* * *

It was to remain unknown to the young dragon for years afterwards that this mission was a test of his abilities by the Council, and that not only his chance to see his only connection to his mysterious past again, but also his own life lay on the line. If Kohaku were to fail at removing the treasure locked within, a watching Council of Dragons would utter the spell that would end his life, to wait the traditional seven years before being judged by the King of the Underworld to find whether he would be reborn or if he were to pass through the Fires of Purification before going through that gateway between worlds and lives. Especially interested in the results of the test were a pair of jade orbs, almost literally on fire with their worry.

After all, what loving father wants to have to kill his own son if the boy had not redeveloped the level of control he would need? Only recently had they discovered how dire the situation of his precious balance was. There was only one way to heal the shattered dragon, but in his current state, it would be too easy for the young woman to be injured with the swirling confusion of his son's two souls that now more closely resembled a human's four souls.

* * *

Focusing carefully, I envisioned the ingot being worked on by the powers of water and air, the rust forming thick on the surface, slowly working its tenacious and creeping fingers through the hardened bar like sea water will devour anything given time. Unacknowledged by myself, night became day, day faded again to night, to be replaced once more by day's dappled then fading light. When I was sure it was weak enough, I focused the two into a stream powerful enough to blast through walls, but still it held firm.

Frowning now, I pulled back my energy, breath coming quickly as I panted a little from the exertion, giving way to the breathing patterns of my specie. The magic danced and taunted me, took the form of a face on the box to leer at me and whisper how weak I was to not defeat a little piece of metal. Incensed that a mere chunk of melted rock would dare speak to me so, I let forth another blast, opening myself fully to project every bit of effort I could to silence the taunting, which only continued in a garbled form. Eventually, I had to stop, and the ingot's words came clearly to me.

"Frustrated, are we little dragon? I suppose you will be even more so after I tell you I saw what your heart holds most dear as you opened to channel your magic. Such a weak dragon you are, holding as your heart a pathetic human girl, who was sick the last time you saw her at that. What would you do, if I told you I've bi-located to her side even now, and have rested my cold forehead against her own warm one as you have done in a most cherished memory. How sweet she smells in her rest. Perhaps I should take her for my own."

"Leave Chihiro out of this!"

"Chihiro. Thousand Fathoms, such an appropriate name for a river dragon to cherish. Perhaps why you hold her memory so sacred is that you wish to immerse yourself in her watery depths in place of the river you failed to defend? To coil within and be covered by her, secure in the knowledge that you will have a home for another 60 or so years as she performs impossible healings in your name. Or perhaps it is merely base lust that the dragon feels for a gentle and blushing virgin unspoilt by fleshly knowledge of men and offering up to you her heady perfume ripe for the plucking with but a murmured wish?"

"What are you saying? Such a relationship is forbidden!"

"Not forbidden, merely frowned on as one can never truly tell if the less powerful and fleetingly transient human is really willing. They are easy creatures to seduce, but who can ever truly know what is in their corrupt hearts? Mortal and immortal alike easily fall prey to the desires of a material body, especially if they do not have full grasp of the lessons of the various types of love."

"You lie! I have never heard of any similar relationship being allowed to continue. And her heart is not corrupt, she is the most pure being that I can ever remember meeting, in body, heart and soul."

"Such words to defend her honor when you have placed it in question in her own mind by way of her dreams many a time, easing the demands of her hormones, causing her to desire no mortal man, yet leaving proof that the things she felt may not have been mere dream. Though she may not consciously acknowledge that a spirit seeks to guard her heart by wooing her away from even thoughts of human males, at least some tiny part knows and gives in a little further each denied tryst. I have seen your memories while you assailed me, I know what your heart yearns for even if you will consciously deny it. With each blast you weaken more in your state of flux, and will die if you go too far. I will welcome that, and take her for myself, as she lies so close and the imbalance in the area will allow me to travel far. If she smells sweet, surely her pure virgin's blood must taste even sweeter. The wards that protect her are failing with each attempt by other spirits to claim her purity. A human's body in my possession as well as spilling her first blood will make me strong enough to challenge this wood spirit entrapping me."

Rage flowed through me, scalding hot in its intensity as it boiled upward from volcanic depths. I was incensed that some lowly demon thought to sink his fangs and whatever else into my tender beauty whose memory I guarded so jealously, not to mention these others that I had only just learned of. The mere thought was enough to nearly drive me insane with hate and worry. Within my chest, I felt a pressure like I can only remember feeling once before, the last time she had been in danger, in the river. But that didn't quite fit either. Had she once been in a similar situation close to that time, and it was a memory that I no longer possessed? It was like someone had heated my heart like a stone, and began to work at it with hammer and chisel to break it into pieces. This galvanized me, filling my body with energy that I had not known that I possessed.

"Vile thing! You will not touch my Chihiro!"

* * *

From their vantage around the crystal, the Council watched as the young dragon's black hair began to flail as whips about his head, his eyes glowing a deadly white like a flash flood lit from within as his audacious and reflective natures agreed to defend the maiden in question. The ghost of who he once had been overlaid his features on the young river lord-once-and-to-be, his features becoming sterner and losing the soft childishness that had played through him before as he had reveled in the challenge presented. His hair, which had previously been a midnight curtain to his shoulders, gained ethereal extensions that could barely be seen, yet left unfelt even with the fact it would have fallen about his waist had his winds been still. The young man's heartbeat resounded through his body, and this energy too he gathered to combine with the rest that he had as well as his rage merging with the rushing river streaming from him, breaking the demon that had been newly born.

Within the box of stone, the sword pulsed in time with the young dragon's heartbeat, answering the master's unconscious call. The weapon, unable to fly to his side yet still sensing the danger to the one for whom it had been forged, as well as what he guarded, instead focused what energy it held latent within itself, attacking the enemy from within in great pulses of water. Surprised at the assault from an unexpected angle, the demon was forced to turn some of it's attention within in attempt to protect itself.

A distance behind Kohaku, the pool of the spring glowed, lit blue from a forgotten silver dragon statue hidden behind a rock, leaving only a severely weakened memory tethered there yet again, to once more attempt to gather energy. As the demon was defeated, the young man's eyes stopped glowing, going back to his normal jade stones. His body, having nearly given its all, shuddered a bit at the backlash of unnecessary magic that returned. The force of it threw him backwards, cracking his head soundly on a tree several paces away.

Moments stretched by as the late teen slumped against the tree. Branches folded down to comfortably support the young lord who had been gone for so long, the ancient dryad recognizing the young man who had once caused a devastating avalanche with his friend on a bored winter day in the neighborhood of 1,000 years ago. Finally, a low moan announced that he had regained his consciousness. Recent key memories of the woman Chihiro had become had been locked away in the crash, and the three aspects who had actually agreed to function together in the way that had been intended were too dazed to realize that more memories had been lost.

Blood trickled a slow path down the back of his head were the skin covering his skull had split with the force of the impact, but he paid it no mind. It would heal shortly, and there wasn't much that he could do for it now anyway. Lin would take care of it when she could.

The barrier had broken without it's animating spirit, and a collective cheer rose from the throats of the watching dragons, a particular white and gold getting his great scaly back thumped repeatedly at the success of his boy. Said dragon was virtually dancing in his relief, the hissing of his great Armored Being the music to praise his son while the five voices toned their joy.

The young man, for man they could now truly call him again for having confronted his fear and lived through it, reached out to remove the lid of the box, uncaring if he was shocked by any lingering magic. The man was merely determined to complete his mission, and to be sure that fiend that threatened that which was _his_ was gone.

All that was left in the stone box was a bit of rusted metal, and a gleaming piece of the sea made solid, stirring softly within the matching sheath. Kohaku carefully picked up the Sea Sword, eyes wide in awe as he knew instinctively that this was the sought after item. A memory tried to push its way to the surface, but it met with some kind of barrier even as he reached forth a hand to drag it into the light. As quickly as that, it was gone, leaving only a vague impression of standing alone against an encroaching evil, dreamlike in quality.

Eyes admiring the fine item, and the blade once drawn, he did not notice when it replenished him with what it had to give, no part of the shattered being realizing that a part of itself had been returned from the ether. With his fingers he could feel the kanji that traced the name of the proper owner, but his eyes could not see them, they hid within the blade and scabbard like deer in the mist.

* * *

I couldn't believe what I had in my hands. These swords were very rare, and here I was actually holding one! I had heard that they would only properly serve their intended masters or those who shared his or her blood. I wasn't going to tell Yubaba that though. If she didn't know, then she could find out on her own. It was strange though how familiar this sword felt to me, how it fitted my hand as if I had trained with it often. With a sigh, I sheathed it, contemplating the unity that was the female principle of sheath and male principle of sword. The female would protect the male in peace, while the male served to protect the female in time of war.

As I stood, I noticed the bush begin to move a little, as if thanking me for relieving it of the duty it had attended to for so long. Used to such odd displays, I nodded in acknowledgment, just before assuming my dragon shape to soar back to the bath house. Before leaping to the sky, I remembered by promise to Lin, and picked up a shed stick for her. I had no idea what she'd do with the sticks she always asked me to bring her, but it was better to humor her. For all I knew, it could be some weird nesting impulse, and no way was I going to mess with any woman beginning to be in her season because that was more dangerous than any mission the witch could send me on. Still clenched in my claws was the sword, pulsing and surging power like the waves of the sea, filling my ears with the low pounding of surf. Then, it struck me.

Only four elements had barred the sword from me. Wood had been present in the form of the guardian bush, having hidden the box with it's form. Earth had been the box itself, as well as the ore that had hidden within the magically triggered Fire shield. Once the Fire had been quenched with water, Metal had remained. However, water had not been set against me, or if it had, it had not been noticed. If someone who was not water had tried, would water have manifested after all?

That thought bothered me the whole flight. I was waiting for the sword to start fighting me or something, but nothing happened. It just sat there, like it was at home.

When I was finally in Yubaba's office, I presented the sword to her. Her eyes filled with malicious glee at the sight of the katana, two embers from hell. Greed shone through her eyes, more so than usual, and I wondered what could have happened to the woman in her earthly life to fill her with it so here in Kamikakushi.

Her gnarled hands, like tree roots, reached to grasp the hilt and sheath. As she laid her hands upon it, it let forth a great burst of energy, swirling up her arms like water, leaving burns where it touched flesh. With the cry of an injured bird, she wrenched away from it to gaze wide eyed at the seemingly inanimate prize. After a minute, she looked at me, puzzlement etched in every line on her face, moving then into calculation as she assessed the situation.

"The owner is not dead."

"Pardon?"

"This sword still has the protective spell on it. It will allow no one to touch it unless they are its master or carry the same blood in their veins."

"That has to be impossible Yubaba. I'm holding it, and it has not reacted to me the entire time."

"And neither can you remember anything about your family. I want to see something. Draw the sword Haku."

Rolling my eyes internally, I pulled the blade from the scabbard, allowing Yubaba to see it. I watched the katana pulsate with visible energy as it suspiciously regarded the witch staring right back at it. It was as if this thing in my hands had a consciousness of its own, mistrustful of the sorceress, and rightfully so. Water swirled around the blade, restraining itself, but clearly speaking reproachfully to the witch. Who knew what use she had intended for it?

I felt myself being drawn into the blade, when the air was rent by her frustrated screech again, now sounding as if someone had trapped an owl by its tail feathers and decided to pull out the pin feathers of the wings.

"The sword is yours! How can this be?"

"What do you mean it's mine?"

"It has said so clearly and your name right there on it as plain as day! Are you blind and deaf?"

I looked to where she pointed, but I saw nothing, only the sword smooth as a still moonlight pond, dotted here and there with lily. No glyphs made themselves known to my eyes, no etches danced before me, no utterances came from it, nor were any intelligible patterns formed by the water. Carefully keeping my thoughts off my face, I looked back up at her a moment. The strain of the bath house must be getting to be too much for her, causing her to hallucinate.

"I see nothing. Perhaps you should sit down, and I'll bring some tea."

"Don't you condescend to me, you annoying dragon! The kanji is as clear as this large nose on my face!"

"There is nothing there Yubaba."

(Although your nose _is_ quite large.)

((If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all Haku.))

(Fine. It's a _nice_ big nose.)

The two of us glared at each other for a while, the flames already beginning to build within her, betrayed by the curls of black smoke from her nose and the crackle as her hair began to slip loose. After a bit, she sighed and drooped like a dying flower after a frost.

"You really can't see it, can you?"

"Whatever it is Yubaba, no I can't."

"Keep the sword. I won't be able to use it, and if you have it, I know Bou won't hurt himself on it. You have the rest of the night off. Blasted metal dragon tricked me with that rumor."

"Thank you."

After I bowed and was dismissed, I headed for my room, fully intending to get some sleep, as I felt a little drained after my mission. As I got to my door, so close that I could almost hear my futon calling to me, Lin ran up behind me.

"Wow, Haku. You got a sword out of the deal?"

"Apparently so. Yubaba said that it was mine and that it wouldn't let her use it."

"Serves her right, what a smart sword. Maybe smarter than you. Anyway, I don't think she can use a sword."

We both had to laugh at the image of the old woman attempting to wield a sword.

"Yeah, but she is the boss. Far be it from me to tell her. Oh, here's your stick."

"Good one! Thanks."

"Do I even want to know what you really do with these?"

"I'm making my den. When I was little, Mom had lots of sticks piled up and woven into dividers for our den. I just want to be ready. Why?"

The image of Lin as a mother, although at first shocking and terrifying with the thought of chibi-Lins scampering about to terrorize the bathhouse, did suit her. Once she calmed down maybe. Still, with how well she did with my little Chihiro, I was willing to wager she would be a good one.

"Just curious. I'm going to go rest now. Good night."

"Curiosity killed the Dragon! Good night Haku. I'll run my girls ragged so they'll leave you alone, but I can't do anything about the slugs."

"Just don't make any jokes about what brought him back. Thanks."

I watched her scamper off, to no doubt carefully place her stick before going back to work. I wondered what Chihiro would look like ripe with child, but quickly squashed that thought before it bore fruit. I was too tired to deal with another fight with myself, any aspect of myself, and those two still hadn't stopped bickering.

Slipping into my room and locking it, I carefully suspended the sword on the wall in a fortuitous and auspicious place. The pulsing stopped as soon as it left contact with my body, and with it whatever spell was keeping me from seeing what was written on it. Gracing the scabbard was a great dragon etched into the silver, looking suspiciously like myself. He curled his tail around a set of kanji.

Studying it, it was indeed my name. No memory came though of when or how I had first gotten it. It was as if life before Chihiro had been wiped from my memory, bits of my life stolen even deeper than what had been hidden by the spell Yubaba had once used to keep me in her thrall. It was too much for me to think about right now, so I went to lay down and rest just a little before taking some time to study one of my books.

I was asleep as soon as I hit my pillow, barely having the presence of mind to pull a blanket over myself. In the dream I was plunged into, as I wrapped my coils about her form I was not tormented by thoughts of easing the tensions of her sweet body that seemed to build up in my dreamscapes. I had no such memories readily available. Merely enjoying the soothing rhythm of her heart, steady as the surf, I followed her throughout some kind of hall of learning my sweet maiden a dot of white and red among a sea of dark uniformed students. I was unable to puzzle out the significance of the dream's colorings, and unable even to make out her lovely face that I so longed to see. Instead, I could only follow helplessly as I wondered if it was some vision of the future, or some way my suppressed self had cooked up to convey another message.

* * *

Happy birthday to me (well, on the 16th). In celebration, here's a chapter.

Reviewer's Corner:

NitenGale - Nope, it wasn't very good for his mental well-being, was it.

KatsyKat - The sad thing is that he got himself into that mess.

Rakasha - :pats kitty's head.:

Littlekittykat - Here you go.

Lost-And-Lonely-Pheonix - Chihiro would throw a shovel. Here, have a suit of armor too.

TranquilMoon - all will be revealed in time, and reunions are always inevitable.

Red-sakura-wolf - thanks.

Jessica - It will come in good time.

Chelsea - glad you liked the carpet.


	16. Revenge of Dragon

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 16: Revenge of Dragon

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away, nor ye Inuyasha.

* * *

Days later found Kohaku chasing after children at breakneck speeds through the play area. A prominent spirit had brought her family with her, believing that they all could use healing. Of course, as children do, once well they became restless. Very restless. The most unlikely implements became drums, little frogs went flying through the air, and the kitchen staff were cornered in the refrigeration unit. Hence, the young spirit had been drafted into babysitting duty.

He didn't mind, he liked playing with children anyway, and they did get themselves into some interesting predicaments. Today, their favorite game was tag of a particularly physical variety. He was just glad it wasn't hide and seek, he could imagine being treed, and then the tree being gnawed down by tiny teeth as he gave up playing by the rules and flung himself into the sky.

Suddenly, the wild pack of wolves, er, dear children, turned on the young dragon. Now they had decided to play 'Hang on Haku.' The object of the game, of course, was to see how many of them could hang off of various parts of his body for as long as they could or until he fell over. All 20 of them swarmed the poor young man, leaving a milling mass of flesh attempting to stay standing in the field.

Lin had come out to check on Kohaku and to give him a break. He hadn't told her abut the head injury that he had received on his last mission, and had only found out when one of the laundry girls had washed his bedclothes. Having built up a surprising tolerance to pain, the idiot had probably forgotten all about it, but she was going to keep an eye on him anyway.

Following her ears and the sound of his melodious laughter, which just grated on her today since she was mad at him for getting hurt and not letting her check it, she blinked in amazement.

"Hey now, trying to knock my feet out is cheating."

"We're going to beat you Haku."

"Oh no you won't."

In answer, the score of wolf pups began rocking back and forth, some chewing on whatever they could reach, trying to throw him off balance. Lin sat down on the grass to watch. She didn't want to miss seeing the 'great warrior' get bested by some scraggly little kids. The 'battle' went on for a good five minutes, occasional hysterical fits of laughter coming from one throat or another as either Haku was being tickled, or he was fighting back in turn.

Suddenly, there was the swift sound of a foot connecting with soft flesh, the oof of painfully expelled air, and a suspicious crunch. Twenty 'uh-oh' cries rose to the heavens like a flock of birds, and the children pulled back to leave the man doubled over on his knees in agony.

"That . Was . Cheating."

The high pitch only confirmed Lin's guess as to exactly what had been damaged. Grimacing in sympathy, she rose and made her way through the crowd of tiny whimpering bodies. Wolf pups were notoriously rough when it came to play, the only rougher pups were dragon pups. So, it had basically been a recipe for disaster from the start.

"Ouch. Lose the ability to give Sen children, or just your pride?"

The heated glare promised her a painful and agonizing sparring match after the guests were asleep. She had deliberately voiced the two things that he would never admit to, and she knew it.

"M fine."

"Wow! You mean he's that Haku? Cool!"

"Dad says you're the bravest spirit he knows of, petitioning to guard a human. Course he also says you're the stupidest for wanting that much trouble to deal with, but . . ."

"Is she really as pretty as they say, or was that all rumors?"

"Did she really help Kamigawa-sama?"

Just what he needed, a pack of hero worshipers.

"No, she couldn't have. Humans are all smelly, mean, and want to ruin the land with their tek-no-lo-gie. Except for Kagome-sama, but Ayame thinks that she has been dead for hundreds of years. She probably just tricked him into helping her."

Okay, so there's a bad apple in every bushel. That one also happened to be rude. Lin was sorry she'd said anything. She knew she should've been nice for once and just asked if he was going to be ok. She assumed control of the situation.

"Yes, he's that Haku, and she's a plain runt with a very pretty and kind soul. I was there, so I can tell you she did help that river god. She actually smelled really nice once we got rid of that smell from her world. She wasn't mean, really wanted to help, and I'm pretty sure she was too worried about her parents to do any tricking. Now, go in for supper, your mother wanted you to eat with her."

The pack of ookami-youkai pups stampeded into the bath house to their mother's rooms.

"One is all I'm ever having. What about you Haku?"

His response was a rude gesture.

"That's what you get for not telling me you cracked your skull open. You may be very pretty, but you're stubborn. No girl wants to sleep with a stubborn man."

One would have thought that, having said she only wanted one kid, the weasel would have stopped taunting the vexed dragon. Dragons, by nature, are fertility spirits no matter what element or natural feature they control. So pissing one off probably isn't a good idea. He had regained use of his legs by now, and so rising stiffly, his determination showed clearly.

Lin misinterpreted it as an effort to save face.

Stalking carefully over to the weasel, he placed an arm on her shoulder and muttered something. His brilliant smile blinded her, and she felt something warm settle in her body. When he drew his hand back with a satisfied noise, she knew that she was in trouble.

"Haku, what did you just do?"

"Oh, nothing much. I wouldn't worry about it for a few years."

"What did you do?"

"Remember, sparring after the guests are asleep. My swordsmanship isn't going to improve on its own!"

Smirking to himself, the revenged river dragon followed after the children to make sure they went where they had been told. Lin stayed behind, watching him saunter back, his whistles amplified by a wandering wind kami. The dragon had cursed her or something, she just knew it.

Haku knew that when his little 'gift' came to pass, he was going to be in big trouble with the quarrelsome spirit. After all, she had said she only wanted one kid. And one child was what she was going to get . . . at a time. And because there had been twenty little witnesses, well, she was going to have a total of twenty little reminders that it isn't wise to mock a fertility spirit's fertility.

Something else was going to come of his 'blessing' as well, and it was even better. In a few years, Yoruiki was going to be one harried dad.

Revenge is sweet.


	17. Tides and Verdicts

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 17: Tides and Verdicts

Physical events in our world have effects in the other world, and vice-verse. The ever surging tide of life will not be denied or delayed for long, asserting itself sometimes in the most terrifying of situations. When dealing with dragons, it is important to know when to be far, far away, and to know where a good rock is. It really sucks though when that time coincides with pre-scheduled hearings. And then there are the tides within one's own self . . .

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

Green shifted himself about his pillar, great golden scales reflecting light back to dance with the jeweled walls. His body writhed around uneasily, uncomfortable in the extreme heat that rightfully did not belong in the chamber. Scales clinked and clanged, and tense hisses escaped him every now and then. Every panted breath from the females in the room caused him to wince imperceptibly, every rumble from them hitched his breath.

He never had figured out why his parents had named him Green, as nothing about him appeared green. Then again, he had always had an affinity for young and growing things.

Such as this young dragon that now stood before him and the other members of the Council. Exactly six months remained until his contract with his mistress was terminated. The aqua plumes writhed in excitement, even his pearly scales standing on end in anticipation, although of the verdict or his fate at the hands of the two females one couldn't tell.

Glancing over at Tatsu, the elder Nigihayami was in much the same state, although managing to at least calm his wild rays of gold. Well, a little bit at least. Those vibrant tendrils had been whipping about like they were caught in a tempest if Nyuuhakushoku hadn't exaggerated when they spoke a few days ago. Fujiyama's coils twitched a bit, while an enigmatic smirk played over his face on occasion. Red and Blue were both writhing around their pillars, wanting to hurry through the formalities so they could return to their mates, an upsurge in seismic activity throughout the world had sent most fire, metal, and earth dragon females ahead in their cycles by at least 200 years. As happy as these two Fire and Metal dragons were with the verdict to be given, they had just entered their heat cycle and were anxious to brood over new clutches.

The youngest Nigihayami was as far away from those two as he could politely manage. He was very like his father when Tatsu was young, except for the one female whose smell he had liked. Green knew Kohakunushi's first choice for Mate, and even though she was a human, he would grudgingly allow it if it were to happen. Only grudgingly though, because it would be far better to claim her once the human spirit was free from her flesh and aging.

Ah well, no one ever said that Youth came with Wisdom.

* * *

I had received the summons to come and hear the verdict on my case. Racing there, I had been filled with dread and anticipation, simultaneously wishing for the outcome to be favorable, and terrified that they would deny me my Chihiro. My heart rode in my throat, and my stomachs were all in knots. I would have even sweated in nervousness had I possessed the proper glands for it.

The laughing welcome of the White/Gold dragon had been very unnerving. His voice was so familiar, and yet, I still couldn't place him. He merely smiled at my eyes that had narrowed themselves in thought, his round emeralds to my slivers of jade. The crisp and cool scent tickled at shadows in my mind, but nothing came forth.

The other four dragons murmured amongst themselves about what a marvelous idea it had been to return the sword, saying it had done me good, that recognition was finally beginning to stir within me.

I was assured of my welcome by their actions, but the heavy scents filtering and slinking through the air unnerved me, and I moved as far away as I could. Two of these Beings were in fertile periods, and Ryu-onna are notoriously unpredictable in that state. As in dangerous if they do not know you well, you were too close to their Mate, or if it had been too long since they had eaten. I could only hope that they had eaten recently, the thought of screaming my horror for all to hear while I was being eaten alive was not an image that I relished.

The Gold opened his mouth to sing the opening intonation of Council Proceedings. His booming seemed to calm the females momentarily, as they lost themselves in the notes of song that is our language.

"State your name for the records, Son of Water."

"Nigihayami Kohakunushi."

"The same Nigihayami Kohakunushi that arrived before our paws to plead for Guardianship and Possession of one Ogino Chihiro, the human woman-child?"

"The same."

"The self-same Nigihayami Kohakunushi who was banished to this world after his physical tie to the Human World was buried beneath rubble and home?"

"Such am I."

"Our verdict is binding, are you prepared to hear?"

"I am, and will abide by my Elder's Decision."

"Then heed the words of Nigihayami Tatsu, who is your Sire and our Representative of Water."

I could not keep my jaw from falling open as the Snow Dragon coiled up a little farther on his massive pillar. My jade eyes locked with the benign glow of his own forested eyes, and the melody of his song was that of snow thawing in Spring.

"This Nigihayami Tatsu is honored that my Son is willing to take such a difficult assignment as the protection of a ningen, who so often put themselves in danger, or do not listen to our promptings. This Ancient Council has seen your bravery, dedication, loyalty, strength . . . and your love. We had already decided to award the human to you, then it came to our attention that your spirit was drawing itself even further apart as it attempted to fulfil some promise that you had made. A test was devised then, that you would retrieve your sword, and thereby gain back part of yourself. In return for our kindness, you must agree to keep the woman safe from all harm, and if she does choose to take a mate, whoever he may be, you will allow her to do so. Is this understood, Pup?"

"I understand, and thank both my Sire and the other Elders of this Council."

"There is more, Kohakunushi. You will also be awarded a river, to connect you to her world in the event that you do not find a place to coil within as her Possessor. Even now, it is being birthed, but you must not complain about it, even if it were to be clear on the other side of the world from the human you will be Guardian of!"

"I understand. May I ask where my river is to be?"

Five chuckles voiced the amusement of the elements. The red one, whom I assumed was a fire dragon by the delicate flames that danced about her nose with each note, opened her deadly mouth.

"You certainly may, but that is our secret. Let's just say that when the time is right, we will have a messenger tell you."

The blue one then opened her mouth, swaying her head slowly, like one who is lost in a particularly lovely refrain.

"As her Guardian, you may allow her to see you. However, you must be careful. You may not tell her outright of what you are to her, she must discover it on her own."

Red swayed as well, making me think of a dangerous cobra preparing to strike.

"You may do what you feel is appropriate with her, as she is a special case. However, you must remember that she is to have her free will. The moment you coerce her, or even think about it, things will be rectified in a most . . . undignified manner."

Great. I had just embarrassed myself in front of the Council. The Gold spoke again.

"No need to be embarrassed, young Nigihayami-san. Red is just that way, although we all have tried to break her of it."

"Humph."

The three males of the Council and myself shifted away from the women as far as we could. Even though laughter was in their eyes, their power of life was increasing, and if they didn't get Chased by their mates soon, the four of us might just end up as some exotic food dish. The Black completely removed himself from his pillar, and looked at the door longingly.

"This Take Fujiyama moves that since all pertinent information has been recounted, this matter be ended."

"This Green seconds, all in favor, say 'aye'."

I looked on in horror as the three males of the Council were being eyed like food. Obviously, they must not have eaten before this meeting. The females languidly began to unwind, and their stomachs rumbled their need to eat. This is exactly why female dragons were terrifying, their need to eat. When the need struck, they did not always recognize friend from faceless and unknown dragons. Luckily, they seemed to have forgotten me, and for once I was glad to be considered a runt. Three 'ayes' rose in panicked flight to the ceiling, followed by others of 'we're mated and have offspring, spare us your wrath.'

Majority won, and the Council was summarily dismissed. The four of us males hurtled headlong through the tunnels through the heated earth to the surface. While we hid ourselves behind whatever was available and tried to mask our scents, two males stomped at the ground impatiently, eyeing the catacombs we had just poured out of like rats on a sinking ship.

Moments later, two reds and two blues were causing torrential downpours of rain, fierce lightning, roaring thunder to drown out their calls, and for once my mane lay plastered to my scales. Three other heads popped up, sighs of escape trickling tiredly from the elders.

"Kami-sama help us, I hope they take the first time."

I was confused by the Black's statement, and could only expel a burst of air as some rain tried to blow into my nose.

"Me too. Otherwise, we'll be rushing out of that chamber for the next 100 years until their cycle is done. Just like last time."

That had been the Gold, and he appeared haggard as some memory played itself out in his mind.

"It's one thing when it's your own mate. It's an entirely different matter when putting up with a cranky co-worker. And what's even worse, Council Alternates are strictly Forbidden."

I did not envy my father, and I wondered exactly how many times this Ancient group had weathered Fertility Cycles together, trying to work around and within the confines of nature and tides of time and life.

I was aggravated that I had to fly back to the bath house in this storm though, and really hadn't needed to see the Breeding Pairs. It had woken that annoying demon in my head back up, and he was once more busily whispering about what he could and would do with Chihiro, making it very hard to concentrate on escape.

The four of us slunk off in different directions, hoping to get out of the area before we were spotted. Dragons are not the most coherent creatures when . . . occupied . . . and are prone to interpret any moving thing that does not bear their scent mark as either an enemy or food. Neither sounded like an appealing thing to be to me. The Black dragon wasn't as fortunate as the rest of us, and his terrified screams filled the air as the rest of us gave up on stealth and just ran as fast as we could.

"Red! Put the boulder down! It's me, Fujiyama! No! Not on me! AAAAAHHHHHHhhhh! I'm just trying to go home, not Interfere! AAAAAAAhhhhhhh! Blue! You've known me since we were pups! OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

I learned a valuable lesson that day. A large black dragon does not blend into a forest well, but a small white dragon hides very well in a nearby stream. Another valuable lesson was not to get roped into serving on the Council once I'm over 10,000. Especially if there is even one female on it, they are just way too DANGEROUS!

To not recognize the face of my father though, that I found disturbing. As I hid under the rock at the edge of the stream waiting for a clear chance to move again, I brooded on this. The gaping holes in my personal history came back to haunt me yet again, and I wondered why I felt such deep aching in my heart. There was something unsaid between my father and myself, some sense that he had helped me in far more ways than I would ever know.

At last, the circling pairs were busy with each other again, and I took the opportunity to get above the clouds where I would not be seen. With any luck, I would be able to stay above the clouds until I reached the bath house, but I had this sinking feeling that the storm was larger than I first thought as the hours roared by. Giving up and not wanting to overshoot my mark, I descended once more.

The rain was joyous and loving, ecstatic in both embrace and caress. The animals below were all stimulated, responding to the Waters of Life. I myself could feel its affects as well, but I had no mate of my own. The closest thing I had was a young woman, whose face I would see in six short months. But I knew that she would not remember me.

Even though I had won a victory, I was still alone.

* * *

Chihiro and BlowingWind were running laps around the outdoor track, clomping along like drunken sailors on a reeling ship as they worked on improving both footing and speed. It was difficult to run in their winter boots in the deep snow with the frozen and muddy ground beneath providing many a hidden trap to send one or the other sprawling. Physical education was an elective for them, but the year that the two had skipped it, Ryu had paid dearly.

And so, they had signed up for physical endurance class. They had to endure, and endure, and endure, and endure . . .

It sucked, but it was worth it.

An immense wave of loneliness suddenly swept over Chihiro, pushing the woman to the ground. The ache in her chest was palpable, like someone had ripped her heart out, stomped on it a couple times, then shoved it crudely back in . . . backward. An image of bleak clouds filled her mind, the sweet rain bringing new life to all below, pairs of animals dancing and rejoicing in the life giving nectar from heaven. But there was a sense that all was not right, like there was someone who had no one to share such a lovely sight with.

Unknown to her, tears began to track their way down her cheeks. She longed to reach out and hold whoever it was that felt such pain, but she didn't know where they were. The tears went unnoticed by herself or her friend as the clouds swept overhead. Rain fell to disguise the watery trails, washing the salt away slowly. The suddenness of the cloudburst caused her to look up with eyes still coated in shining layers of water.

Her newly indrawn breath stilled in her lungs, eyes wide with shock. For a moment, she thought she saw a dragon soaring just beneath the clouds. The emptiness in her heart filled for that span of breath, and their eyes met. The shock would have driven her down if she hadn't already been sprawled in the snow and mud, and the bitterness in the creature's eyes seemed to break.

A tear formed in the beast's eye, to drop below and land in a surprised and outstretched hand. Her tender mouth formed an O of surprise and disbelief, yet her eyes also had that wonder he had treasured so. Another tear fell from his eye as he realized she was probably just another illusion of his mind, and he continued on.

Two tears now sat in her hand, held separate from the rain falling all about her. Still gazing in rapt wonder, her breath began again, and she lost sight of the thing that her soul had been yearning for without her acknowledgment. The two slid together, and formed a tiny round orb, translucent and just barely tinged in blue.

BlowingWind had seen the dragon too, had been able to see the entire transit across the sky while the two humans had been overtaken by the storm. Looking into her friend's hand, she saw the tiny stone that had been formed, and knew full well that if Chihiro were to keep it, it would be powerful against sickness of all forms.

"Come on Chi, I think that's enough for today."

Woodenly, the Miko followed the Shaman, eyes forward, but mind vainly trying to process what she just saw, and the object she now held.

'Did I . . . just see . . . a dragon? Surely not! But if not, then where did this come from? Maybe . . . maybe sometimes . . . there is more . . . than what we think.'

"Chihiro? You ok? Let's get some hot chocolate."

'Why was he so sad?'

* * *

Rakasha - Hopefully she'll catch on and at least space them a good distance apart, huh? And with all that he's been through, at that point I'm pretty sure he doesn't intend to go back for long enough to babysit her kids once freed. Could you see him swarmed by little baby weasels?

Sakura Ariella - Sounds like a fun trip. Here's an update.

Katsy Kat - Can't write humor all the time anyway, it would make me go bonkers. Figuring out how the spell should be constructed took forever though. Also, for RKF, thanks for the heads up, I thought I had that fixed before I uploaded, but evidently I didn't. So the corrected version should be readable soon, considering I reposted after reading the review.


	18. Dragon's Musings

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 18: Dragon's Musings

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

"Master Haku! You're soaked."

Soaked wasn't really the word for it. Miserable was more like it. His mind had been playing tricks on him in the rain, thanks to the particular type he had been caught in. Even his very bones felt waterlogged. His normally pristine hair was plastered to his skull, his clothes clung to him uncomfortably, and he was very glad his hakama and under kimono were dark. The yuna were eyeing him in ways that made him very uncomfortable.

"Bath. Dry clothes. Food."

Naturally, he was very grouchy. Not to mention he was supposed to see Yubaba and report how the Council had gone. No way he was seeing her looking like he had been drowned.

"Yes. Right this way."

Thankfully, the foreman himself escorted him, cutting out the pouting women. Male bath attendants were being turned out of normal chores to draw the bath, as Haku would not let any of the women near him if he could help it, especially when bathing. Most especially when bathing.

After peeling out of his sodden clothes, which were taken away to be dried, Kohaku slipped into the scalding bath, driving the chill from his body. Hidden from the cheekbones down in a comforting embrace, he glowered at nothing in particular. The rain's caress had affected him in ways that he really hadn't wished, and it was all the fault of those Breeding dragons.

'Blasted Breeding urges.'

When he finally got to Chihiro, he was going to take her into the deepest part of his new river, and he was going to hide her there. She wouldn't choose any weak human if she had no human suitors, and he could keep her safe from her parents' idiocy. And he wouldn't have to see any more displays like what he had just escaped not so long ago. He was still shuddering inside.

The thought of Chihiro getting married turned him green. Her choice was a condition that he was going to have trouble living by.

The attendant who brought in his dry kimono heard his growls, and peeped in to see that everything was alright. The dragon-man didn't notice though, he was too busy trying to kill the side of the tub with his glare, imagining some pathetic male even _touching_ his Chihiro. Prudently, he retreated, not wishing to have taken out on himself whatever was bothering the master. Today he was supposed to find out if he would be getting Chihiro, and perhaps the verdict had been negative. He wasn't too sure the bath house could handle a pissed off dragon.

The growling stopped abruptly though, the young spirit rising a bit and laughing as he remembered that at least he got his wish, and a bit more. Besides, he could start all over with her, and see her smiling eyes again.

"It could have been worse. They could have said no."

After a while, he emerged from the tub, shaking himself dry as he was still lost in the realm of thought, his body on autopilot. The water droplets sprayed through the air like fine diamonds, and he unconsciously directed them to rejoin their brethren in the bath. A far away and dreaming gaze softly flowed from his deep eyes as he wondered how his little Chihiro had grown, and what a fine young woman she must now be. A tune, that he could not remember the name of, burbled from his throat, humming at first while he enjoyed the feeling of comfort. Dragons love music and song, and he was no exception, occasionally giving in when he thought he was alone.

Gradually, his soft humming gave way to the words of a song, the notes of a stately river matching the tune he had floated about himself, but carrying his own thoughts. While he pulled his clothes on, he was unaware of the few women who had snuck away from their chores to spy on him.

She fell into my rushing river,

So innocently reaching.

I saw her fall, felt her shiver,

Glad I wasn't sleeping.

Her eyes had no fear within,

So wide, clear, pure.

Instincts within me arisen,

Her trust, it was sure.

I did as I had once sworn to,

By bringing her to shore.

So lovely to feel them, two

Tiny hands once more.

And yet, wrath awoke itself,

That such a treasure fell.

Irreplaceable precious elf,

Untended was her well.

She came again herself to me,

Older yet still untended.

Still needing my caring safety,

Not as I had intended.

The ones who were supposed

To guide my beloved pearl,

They had not been composed,

And belief had yet to unfurl.

Now she is no longer near to me,

And in what vile trouble

That now embroiled within she be,

Or in what corner huddled.

I am on my way, river's maiden,

And I'll soon fulfill my vow.

Always open to you is my den,

I've not my freedom now.

Having gotten his clothes on, the spying yuna wondered what the song meant, as they had never heard the words before. Still lost in his own thoughts, he made his way to report to Yubaba, knowing that his food would be waiting for him in his room when he was done.

He was overjoyed that he would be seeing his Chihiro again, and if he had been a less reserved spirit, then he probably would be doing cartwheels now that his clothes no longer felt like a second skin. However, Kohaku was a _very_ reserved spirit, so it didn't happen. Besides, if he had given in and done so, somebody was sure to die of a heart attack. Haku never was seen doing such silly things if he wasn't babysitting.

On the other hand, he had met his father. The sad thing is that he hadn't recognized the dragon as his father, but at least he knew now why the smell had been familiar. As pups, dragons imprint the smell of their parents, and then later, are put at ease when they smell similar scents. He should have been able to recognize his father, but for some reason, the memory had not been there. But why?

The monotonous clack of his indoor sandals, so very much like the wide parts of a ghost river, fell on deaf ears, and so too the greetings of the workers that he passed. The pale complexion was so much like what he had worn when under the witch's power, and many of the workers wondered if she had not found some new way to trap him when his time was almost done there. He was like a ghost in his own world, others seeing him now and then, but not truly belonging. He had a past, although it was shrouded in mystery. What had been his place in the world as a river spirit? Was he of noble birth, or had he merely been a minor stream? No, he had been a lord of some kind, but when he tried to press into the memory, it flew away. What was his mother like?

Gaudy and ornate objects did nothing to catch his eye. Through the halls he trekked, gliding through like some apparition of times gone by. Broad shoulders bore a load unknown, and glimmers of whom he had once been could be visible to the spirits who had been passed by, tucked into the set of his shoulders or the pace of a foot. The sweep of invisible sleeves would pass over a frog or slug, leaving them to wonder what had happened. Deep within, change was taking place as his river drew ever nearer to its completion, long buried parts of himself awakening and releasing the poisons that he had held for so long buried within.

In the world of men, there was a big deal on the news about vials that had been found that had once been reported missing from a research facility that was no longer secret. Despite the cold of winter, cleanup crews had been dispatched in the areas that had oddly thawed.

At last, he had come to the doors that lead to Yubaba's office, and they parted for him without a word. The clanging echoes made him think of how alone he was, how empty his life had been, and how empty it still was. He would not fall for her tricks this time though, nor would he succumb to the spells of helplessness and hopelessness hidden in every vase. He refused to dwell on the ashes of the creatures that lay resting withing them, brothers and sisters of legend brought low by her tricks.

When he reached her office, instead of finding her at the desk as usual, she was gazing morosely out of the window. The storm was still howling outside, and within the buildings there was sure to be a swarm of activity. A few animals could be seen trapped outside, giving in to the call of the water and dancing their separate dances. The smell of regret and loss hung heavy in the room, the old woman lost in her own thoughts. The very occasional sniffle could be heard, making him feel like he was intruding on something.

Turning to go, supposing his mistress needed a bit more time to compose herself, he met with a closed door.

* * *

"Report."

The hard edge was still in her voice, even though the reek was still all around, making me want to gag. Again I faced the witch, noting that her face was in its usual distasteful sneer, even though her dusty eyes had an unfamiliar and disturbing sheen.

"The Council convened, and awarded me a river . . . and Chihiro."

"What took you so long to come?"

"I was . . . caught in the weather . . . and then I had to make myself presentable."

"Hmmm. In weather like this, it must have been hard for a single dragon to concentrate on flying. Perhaps you were distracted?"

'Only if you count watching another male dragon get the rice beaten out of him of a distraction. It is going to take him a while to heal, and I might be scarred for life.'

"There were no distractions."

"Good. Next time be quicker, you were needed here."

'To tally accounts maybe.'

"Understood."

"Go check on Yoruiki in the healing center, then you can go run inventory on Kamaji's herbs."

'I was close.'

"Yes Yubaba."

The doors crashed open again, and I found myself being hurtled through the hall and landing on my head in the lift. It was the first time in a long time that I had been thrown out, and I wondered what I had done. Last time, I had been caught giving Bou a glass of blackberry juice, and ended up on my rump wearing the offending beverage and staining my best haori. This time though?

Before I got a chance to get into a more dignified position, the doors slammed shut again, the knocker giving me a very decisive glare. It seemed to be asking me what I had done this time, but wordlessly, like it was afraid to be heard.

A disturbing thought beat me over my abused head as I righted myself. The way that she had been staring out the window, and the way she had smelled, had almost been like she was also affected by the particular kind of storm. It was an odd thought, but despite all that I had learned under the slave-driver, I didn't know much about her other than the as my mistress.

Perhaps she had once had a mate of her own, then lost him somehow? Was that why she now turned to gold and jewels, like some kind of drug? The way that she doted on her son, now that I thought about it, was reminiscent of someone who only was connected to a dear one by a common thread.

Despite myself, I wondered what she had been like before she ran the bath house. I could hardly believe it, but I actually found myself pitying the woman who had tricked, abused, and otherwise manipulated me.

Kami, did I need a vacation.

After a while, I found where they had put the blasted kitsune. He was curled up in a corner, moaning like somebody had ripped him into pieces, or at least given him a good lick in the gut. When he rolled over, his countenance was also purple in a few places. It seemed like he had lost a fight.

"Are you dead yet?"

An indignant wheeze came from his general direction as he acknowledged the jab in his side with a convenient pole. I just had never liked him, and similarly, I had been his test subject for every trick the fox was teaching Lin.

"So, what brings you here?"

I got a rude gesture.

"Lin?"

A ruder gesture.

"Did she do this?"

Yoru looked at me like I was an idiot. For my part, I probably wasn't doing very well in hiding my enjoyment. Nor did I care.

"Let me guess. You had been in the rain, and she hadn't."

A small nod brought a grin to my face. In turn, it made him look like some blood sucking youkai had asked him for a 'little bite.'

"I could always throw her out in it, if it would help."

He merely groaned and rolled back over, gripping where the center of his abuse had been. As I went to check on Kamaji's inventory, I was actually now very glad I was single.

* * *

Beneath Mount Fuji, one Take Fujiyama finally pulled himself into his bed. His battered and bruised body clearly told his mate that he had not quite been fast enough escaping his female work mates. Several of his polished coal scales were missing, and a few were still barely dangling by a cuticle. It was a really good thing for him that she had eaten a large meal today, because she had also been affected by the quakes and eruptions, but her main problem he had taken care of before leaving for the Council.

Opening one bruised eye, he shuddered when he mistook his mate for Red, then noticed that it was only his mate. She was much redder than Red, a blood red as opposed to the fire red. His favorite son, Ryu had taken his mane color from the ryu-onna, but had his knack for getting in trouble and his deeply black scales.

Tatsu was so lucky that he had married a Water, his mate wouldn't be harrying him all night long. The two had jobs that usually kept them in very different areas.

As his mate licked his wounds clean, his last thought before restful sleep was about how fickle males are when it comes to banding together against women. He had seen the others scramble for safety, leaving him no good hiding spots.

* * *

It is drawing to an end, another chapter or two. Yubaba isn't going to want to let him go that easily. 


	19. Change and Coping

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 19: Change and Coping

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

* * *

She sat at the table, lost in her own world as she ate her scrambled eggs, stir fried vegetables, and rice. Clouded eyes gazed unseeing on the room, smiling at things only the Miko could know. The heaping plate was emptied without a word, vanishing quickly and yet not even acknowledged as the healthful meal slid down her esophagus and into the abyss of her stomach. No conversation came from her, nor did any pull her out of her dreams.

Silence ruled over the table as her three companions watched her, the only thing challenging the quietude for sovereignity was her humming. A hauntingly familiar tune it was, passed down through generations of Oginos, and one that they had head her practice many a time on the biwa, or singing softly to herself when she thought no one was around.

Ryu narrowed his eyes at the woman seated across from him. She was eating her breakfast, absorbed in her own world, innocent and pure . . . or so it seemed. Something was different about her, the way she ate, the way she moved, the way she smelled, even the way she sat. It was all so the same, and yet, it was as if some part of her had grown.

It was maddening, and he couldn't pin it down. The whole situation was an affront to his dragon's sense of intuitive perception. As if he didn't have enough mysteries trying to figure out how to get his girlfriend how to do the things she promised, now the one constant and steadfast object in her world was in flux. It meant that his BlowingWind would be rather cranky until she herself could pin down the enigma she had as a friend.

"Did you sleep well Chi?"

The question had come out of nowhere from the mouth of his sweet Shaman, causing both the dragon and Miko to nearly leap out of their skins. Well, the dragon anyway. Chihiro just kept dreaming into space as she quietly ate, humming a bit every now and then as she paused to gaze into space.

"Has she been bewitched?"

"I don't think so Koji. But maybe."

"Her serenity is creeping me out. Koji, have you ever seen her like this?"

Indeed, BlowingWind did look very creeped out, used to at least having some help in warding Ryu away from her pickled ginger. She knew that he only did it to bring out her competitive streak and get her to eat, but still, it was on her plate for crying out loud. When sane, Chihiro was always ready with a swift kick to the shin.

"Only once, about nine years ago when she came back to visit me for a week."

"Chi! Queso's running around looking for you in a speedo! Run before he finds you!"

There wasn't even a response. She just kept up her eating, adding a sigh every now and then as she processed the wonderful dream that she could only half remember. When she had awoken from slumber, everything was in order, and yet it was like at the same time something should surely be out of place. It was all so puzzling. What was real and what was fantasy? Did she even know any more?

Having finished her morning meal, Chihiro picked up her dishes and glided into the kitchen to wash and store them. Gentle sighs followed her, so much like a love struck teenager that it was uncanny. Each step swayed the red of her training hakama, swishing about her legs like the water that one wades through. It was as if she had become water, lost in an aquatic world of dreams where the difference between drowning and breathing was only perception.

Koji recognized that walk. His own wife had floated around their home many a morning. Lunging across the table, he grasped the unfortunate being by his T-shirt. The red cotton bunched in his hand like crumbled leaves.

"Tell me my daughter is still virgin and hasn't known a man."

"She's still virgin. I don't smell the presence of a male within her. Let go priest."

"If she's still virgin, explain that walk and expression."

By now, the Priest had pulled the poor dragon onto the table, and looked much like he had when serving in his nation's military. BlowingWind, seeing that there was much male posturing soon to be coming, decided to go and help with the dishes. Even though the old man lived next door, he was often part of their breakfast ritual, and often there was an unavoidable posture or two.

"Dreams again Chi?"

"Hmm?"

Their black cat had narrowly escaped becoming a dish towel as she obviously had her mind in other places. Even while gazing at BlowingWind, Chihiro still seemed to be seeing something else. Or was it some one else? A presence in the apartment around 2 AM the last night had pulled her out of her sleep for a moment, but she was so tired from denying her body that she fell right back into the arms of slumber.

"I asked if you had any dreams last night."

"Oh. Those eyes. I want to find those eyes."

Disgusted at her lack of progress with the daydreaming woman. BlowingWind threw herself back into the sea of battling male hormones.

"How should I know? I don't share her room."

"But you've got the superior sense of smell! Surely you could smell if someone snuck into her room."

"Yeah! But there was no male _within_ her! That's kinda how somebody loses virginity."

"I know that! I'm a grandfather! I have both lost my own and taken that of my wife!"

"Cool it guys. I just talked to Chihiro."

The men paused their glaring match to look at her.

"She's just daydreaming about the eyes she's looking for. Teenage fantasies, let her have them."

* * *

Kohaku flopped down on his bed as the sun was rising. He could still feel her, still taste her, and couldn't get the human he was obsessing over out of his skull. He couldn't believe what he had nearly done, with less than six months before he was free to go to her.

It had seemed so right, and yet it was so wrong. He had probably watched her ancestors grow, and here he had almost . . . done that. Whether dream, vision, or reality, it was wrong. Surely spirit and human romantic couplings were against the rules.

* * *

As I tried to fall asleep, words from the Fire and Metal dragons wove themselves through my head, prodding out thoughts that I tried to hide from myself. The things that I desired to do with the one who held my heart in her hands.

"_You may do what you feel is appropriate with her, as she is a special case. However, you must remember that she is to have her free will. The moment you coerce her, or even think about it, things will be rectified in a most . . . undignified manner."_

"_As her Guardian, you may allow her to see you. However, you must be careful. You may not tell her outright of what you are to her, she must discover it on her own."_

It was enough to raise my hopes, to make me think that perhaps it would be sanctioned, but then I remembered my father's words.

"_In return for our kindness, you must agree to keep the woman safe from all harm, and if she does choose to take a mate, whoever he may be, you will allow her to do so. Is this understood, Pup?"_

I had to let her choose a mate. Instead, I had selfishly nearly taken her for myself. Since I had been awake and bathing before falling into that dream, perhaps it was only a lust induced daydream instigated by the rains, but I couldn't afford to take the chance. I had failed in guardianship once, I refused to do so again. I needed to keep her safe, even if it was safe from myself. I could content myself with being her friend. I had to. What human in their right mind would take a spirit to their bed?

My body tried to betray me again, but I changed forms before it could. In my original form, there was much less chance that I would fall prey to baseness. I contemplated instead of her beauty her purity and found my blood beginning to cool once more. Grateful for small miracles, I fell into sleep.

* * *

In her office, Yubaba gazed into her crystal ball, thinking of ways that she could force the dragon back into another contract. Since he had been given a new river, he would be even more formidable a weapon, and the fact that he was one of the few dragons given a human was something that proved how formiddable he had become. It was also something that she could use against him, a way to toy with his mind and heart and twist him to her will. Yes, it could work against him very nicely, especially given the images that she had seen in her scrying device.

Now, was there a way to call her into doubt in his mind? Or should she try to get the human under her control and so force him to stay?

No, there was no way to call her into question. A look at the young woman left no question as to her spiritual, sexual, and bodily purity. Many images of a few young men being mercilessly beaten into submission played within the crystal. There was a link between the two, probably relaying basic information between the subconscious layers of the two beings, letting them know when something was wrong. In fact, looking back over what was available of her past at this viewing, it seemed that she was instrumental to his well being. She was the one who had been the catalyst for beginning the river it seemed the Council was bonding him to.

Then it was the last option. She must somehow gain control over the little human. The problem with that option was her purity. There was nothing that Sen wanted that she could not get for herself, and she seemed to enjoy that. What was there that little Sen could not get for herself? The woman's lips began to move as she talked to a pale woman behind her.

From the plush red armchair by the fire, the three green heads watched fearfully, wondering what dirt Yubaba would dig up on the human. They knew that if the witch hurt the girl, then the thin thread that kept Haku sane would most likely snap. As the bath house was so very precious to Yubaba, they knew that it would be the thing he turned his anger against, whether there was anyone inside or not. A voice that they had not heard in years floated from the polished crystal.

"Oh. Those eyes. I want to find those eyes."

An image of intense jade green eyes filled the crystal orb, and Yubaba cackled at the image. Instead of the cold indifference or rare flicker of defiance she was accustomed to, the emotions in these familiar jewels run the gamut from childish adoration to base lust. All emotions that she could turn to bitterness and the pain of betrayal, or even that which she craved most, fear. She knew those eyes, and right where to find them. They had defied her for years, silently protesting the treatment of the other workers, smuggling back their tips or retrieving names when he could.

"So. The human is in love with a spirit. Our very own Nigihayami Kohakunushi at that! I just might be able to use both plans after all."

The crone cackled some more at the thought of finally being able to settle properly Sen's debt to the bath house. She knew just the spell to use for this special mission too. Leaving her desk behind, she went behind the screen that hid her most secret books from view. Pulling out a dusty tome, she carefully opened the Black Book, enjoying the quiet scream coming from the binding.

True, the spell was in a book that she had made her apprentice study, so he would know how to counter her. However, it was just that reason that this particular spell would be the best, as if it took hold, it might serve the purpose of calling into question her ability to stay pure. Even if it didn't, then the phantom would be able to get close enough to plant her trademark slug. She would be able to control the humans memories and actions, and with but a word, end the young woman's life. What better way to blackmail him into signing another contract that this threat?

"E ba, A ba, O ba, U ba, I ba. Eba, Aba, Oba, Iba, Uba!"

The words of the chant repeated and rearranged themselves, taking life of their own. The letters poured from her mouth and took the shape of a young man. His pale skin and dark hair made his glittering green eyes seem like two emeralds coldly winking in their malice. With each round of the chant he grew more opaque, although still slightly see through, being a dream phantom.

Yubaba walked circles around her work, surveying her success. The young man stood proud, just like the one that she had copied. Even the hair caressed his shoulders and his face was carefully blank in the same cocky way, and frowning, a sweep of her hand cropped the demon's mane short in the manner that Sen had last seen it.

"Speak boy."

"What shall I say mistress?"

"That will do. Perfect. Your job will be to find Sen and seduce her in her dreams, getting close enough to place this into her. Go as far as you can, take her maidenhood if possible. You will find that you know everything that you need to."

"Yes mistress."

"Go boy."

The young man strode to the window that opened for him, and leapt through it, catching a wave of air beneath his body and riding it to his objective. The man's form wavered, replaced with a fair-sized dragon, a ribbon of white and teal disappearing into the distance.

* * *

The day passed, Kohaku sleeping soundly in a world free of guilt, his possession drifting dreamily through her Saturday. When he rose before sunset, he felt as if something was going to go wrong, as if some impending evil had swept its way to what was his and lay in wait to steal some coveted treasure.

As he walked about to check that all was in order, a habit that had developed early on, he went through the things that someone could possibly steal from him. His sword rejected the touch of anyone who did not share his blood, so that could not be stolen. He didn't have much to speak of here that was worth stealing, unless you obsessed over Sen or had a penchant for reading other's diaries.

Throughout his workday though, the feeling persisted. A hundred times the things that he owned must have been run through his mind, but there was nothing. He owned no amulets, as his magic was part of himself. His gold had pretty much all been left to Chihiro, although how that had worked he could not understand. Giving up on it, he focused on his work.

As far as work went, there wasn't much to focus on. He hated this job. For most of the time he had been here, it seemed his purpose was to float around the bathhouse like some lost soul and make sure that everyone was doing their job. It was horrible, boring, monotonous, and he really felt like he wasn't needed. Very rarely did anything go wrong any more.

He missed that. Life was just too slow.

As he finished his rounds and went to catch up on his paperwork, the feeling of waiting dropped. Whatever was going to happen, was happening now.

Rushing so fast that he was merely a stray breeze to the spirits he passed, he ran to his room. At last there was an intruder, and if they had made it to his room then hopefully it was a worthy opponent, instead of just a normal fly. He was beginning to overreact to anything intruding in his room, and it was earning him a reputation that he didn't need. After all, everyone already thought he was some kind of dark magician.

Prepared for anything, Kohaku burst into his room, right hand already holding a glowing orb of water ready to strike. Landing inside the door, he looked wildly about the room . . . to find absolutely nothing amiss.

Shaking his head at himself, he set the orb on his desk, as he needed to fix the door that he had just broke. He couldn't believe that he had just broke his own door for nothing. Best to fix it before anyone knew and started spreading rumors. Or even worse, before Lin decided that he had needed some "private time." Only just the other day had he found a sketch of himself and a woman who was supposedly Chihiro . . . procreating. Lin was going to pay for that, and since the heads knew where she hid her manga, maybe he would work out a little deal of his own with them in retaliation. To think she had gotten someone to post it in the male workers showering facilities though! On the bulletin board no less.

After finally getting the door working correctly, he went back to his desk to deal with his impromptu weapon. Since it was charged, he couldn't just drop it in somebody's water bucket, and he didn't feel like being even more jittery from reabsorbing it. He had to de-arm it first.

Situating himself comfortably on his chair at the desk, he noticed some images forming in the water, and he found himself actually paying attention to them.

As usual, he couldn't see her face, but it was the woman from his dreams. She lay peacefully in her bed, moonlight washing over the blankets that embraced her in their warmth. There was a man crouched next to her bed, watching her thoughtfully. The green eyes shone maliciously in the dark, twin pools of stagnant forest water eager to drown the innocent being now drenched in his deadly gaze.

* * *

Satisfied with whatever he was watching, the being began to climb onto the bed with the maiden, an inky pool of shadow obliterating the moonlight that once was there. The dream demon smiled hungrily as he opened his maw to moan one word.

"Sen."

"G' 'way. Sleep'n."

"Sen. Wake up."

Chihiro merely rolled over, pulling the covers up and putting the pillow over her head. This left the Demon of Impure Dreams to frown in consternation. Very few women had ever defied him and just gone further into sleep. In order to accomplish the mission he had been summonded for, he needed her to cooperate.

"Sen."

Eyes still firmly shut, Chihiro reached out and pinched his nearest available body part using her nails, what her hand found was his nose. Believing it to be Ryu for some odd dream-addled reason, though she couldn't fathom why the name sounded familiar, she fought to retain sleep.

"Ryu! Sen doesn't live here, try down the hall before I leave gouges so deep you won't even think about groping 'Wind."

Of course, this caused the demon to pull back, holding his nose to protect it from further harm at the hands of the sleeping maiden. A moment was taken to process the shock at being fought against. Most women eagerly woke to enjoy his caresses, but this one, even though the witch had copied the body and voice of her lover, merely wanted to sleep. Growling in frustration, the demon ripped away the covers and sprang to pounce on his prey.

"You will let me in!"

* * *

I am very excited to let you all know that one of my poems was accepted into semi-finalist status for the International Library of Poetry's annual contest. Also, it was selected to be included in their newest collection, Eternal Portraits, which is scheduled to be published this summer! 'Moving On' is to be published under the name Teresa Huddleston-Garcia, so those who want to see it can go to Www. Poetry .com to find it.

Also, a slightly expanded edition of chapter 18 is up at the other site.

Reviewer's corner

Sakura Arielle - Yes, Ryu thinks his dad is stern. Maybe he wouldn't have to be that way with his favorite son if he would be a good boy. (Indignant snort from offending dragon here.) You would think he'd be able to hide in a forest (that's what I had intended for Green, then decided to leave it out), however, Fujiyama turned out to be bad at hiding.

Alaina - Need some Superglue for your bum? Or shall we just see if we can graft it back on?

NitenGale - Glad that your brother is alright, you must have been really scared. Get some rest. Yup, poor ol' Fuji's still around, and Yoru got a li'l present from Lin. And Haku got to poke him with a pole.

Fuji: Rain, we need a word.

Yoruiki: I agree. Did you create me for the sole purpose of hurting me?

Rain: No, I needed someone for the part of annoying kitsune who teaches Lin bad things.

Yoru: Oh. Ok.

Fuji: Was it necessary to almost kill me at the hands of my co-workers?

Rain: You wanted everyone to know you aren't as bad as Ryu makes you out to be.

Fuji: Yeah, but not looking like a weak sop!

Lost-and-Lonely-Pheonix - Maybe Queso was standing behind you, and she was aiming for him.

Kataan - Welcome, welcome, welcome. Glad to see a new face reading the story. Point out where it drags so I can do better (of course, if it's in the details I might not be able to, I like detail).

KatsyKat - Up her sleeve . . . hmm. . . :Grabs Yubaba, pulls out . . . a flame thrower: Well, now that kind of spoils the fireball special effect, so much for that idea. :Tosses her off stage.:

Mooncinder - Thanks.


	20. Sleeps Through Anything

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 20: Sleeps Through Anything

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away. Rain does own the original characters though, and if Miyazaki actually wanted them, I would do cartwheels in glee (which I can't do very well at all).

* * *

Last time in Promise of a River . . .

Eyes still firmly shut, Chihiro reached out and pinched his nearest available body part using her nails, what her hand found was his nose. Believing it to be Ryu for some odd dream-addled reason, though she couldn't fathom why the name sounded familiar, she fought to retain sleep.

"Ryu! Sen doesn't live here, try down the hall before I leave gouges so deep you won't even think about groping 'Wind."

Of course, this caused the demon to pull back, holding his nose to protect it from further harm at the hands of the sleeping maiden. A moment was taken to process the shock at being fought against. Most women eagerly woke to enjoy his caresses, but this one, even though the witch had copied the body and voice of her lover, merely wanted to sleep. Growling in frustration, the demon ripped away the covers and sprang to pounce on his prey.

"You will let me in!"

* * *

'Damn witch is trying to mess with my head again, and ripping off my looks on top of it! Demons going around and jumping into dreams. Pha!'

Totally ignoring the fact that he had somehow figured out a way to see events in worlds other than his own and working instead on the instinct of protecting what belonged to him, Kohaku just wanted to rip the imposter to shreds and festoon the pieces on Yubaba while she slept. Sadly, he couldn't do that. But how was he going to help her just on the off chance that this was not some sideshow illusion the witch had conjured to punish him for the Kami only knew what?

Kohaku tried to call on his element to attack the evil creature, feeling extremely odd about trying to fight someone who looked like himself. None was close enough to hand to do anything, although he could feel something weak burst. Seemingly helpless due to the fact that he was not where he could defend the helpless maiden himself, he cast about within his mind for anything that could help. If he couldn't think of something, who knew what the nasty thing intended to do to the innocent young woman.

While he was worrying about what he was seeing, the unknown silver strand that ran from his heart to hers that connected his life force to her own conducted extra energy. The invisible aura that surrounded her grew brighter, the pearly color laced with silver scale and still yet unseen. His vitality was pushed by jealous instinct into her, and the unconscious body fell forward as he did the one thing he shouldn't have done.

Kohaku's forehead made contact with the charged orb, the force more than enough to explode the dangerous bauble. His body was sent flying across the room to slam into the wall and fall to the floor in an abused heap. Soot from the incineration of the natural hydrogen-powered bomb (although far less destructive than the unnatural human variety) had been scorched into the desk and covered the unprepared dragon from head to foot. The heat had also burned his face, but he would heal due to his youth, health, and the fact that he was a spirit would see that no scar was left.

As Chihiro's dreams became more vivid the deeper she went, soothed by the familiar energy surrounding her, the dream demon became a bit more solid and a bit more powerful due to his enemies confusion and injury.

* * *

Happily, Chihiro managed to dive back into the realm of sleep, rolling over in search of a warm and fuzzy blanket that had been so cruelly yanked away by a frustrated demon finding her dreams oddly inaccessible. In her search, she rolled off of the bed, and rolled herself into the rug on the floor. Chihiro didn't wake up, as she had to either wake on her own or get drenched with water being a deep sleeper. This left the unfortunate dream demon to land on an empty bed instead of diving into the threshold to her deepest and most secret dreams.

Bouncing up off of the comfort device, he again tried to leap into her dream, only to hit a shield that suddenly sprang up. The evil replica of 'Sen's' hero and dream lover slid down the shining wall, leaving a little trail of drool where his mouth had impacted. It didn't take long to slide down, but he did land in an undignified sprawl. Calling on his demon magic, the fake water spirit began to show his true self as he blasted sections repeatedly with fire and threw specially charged iron spikes to sap the defender's strength. Still, the shield held true.

His scream of aggravation was truly terrifying, especially considering that the witch had gifted him with a certain river dragon's form and abilities, including Kohaku's exceedingly loud voice when completely and thoroughly ticked off at the whole bath house's performance. If there had been no spirits living in the household, he would have been safe from being heard, as he existed on the dream level. Too bad there was a 'stray' witch's cat, disguised volcano dragon, and a now very grumpy Dreamwalker/Shaman in the apartment, all awoken from their peaceful repose. Let's not forget about the old priest right next door either.

The slam of a door alerted the spirit to the terrible mistake that he had made. Less than a half a second later, a dark form was outlined in the doorway. Acting out of panic, the demon used his copied abilities to shut the door with his magic, and locked it tight. He had to get in the girl's dream before the dreadful monster made it through the door, but the doorway into her dreams was steadily shrinking as she sank even deeper into slumber, closer to the Delta state where the brain ceased to dream. It really didn't help him that said doorway and woman were completely enfolded in a now very silver scaly shield. Quickly, he tried every way that he could think of to get through the shield, and yet every opportunity presented steely scale that rebuffed him.

* * *

"I knew there was some demon visiting her at night. And you were telling me to let them finish all those other times!"

"Fine! For once you were right! Less talk, more breaking down the frickin' door!"

Another door slammed open, but it wasn't the one to the bedroom. The same door slammed shut again, followed by a frenzied war cry.

"Banzai!"

The little old man and his staff seemed to fly across the room. It was an awe inspiring and terrifying sight for the dragon and shaman, seeing this old man fling himself in his plaid pajamas at the door like there was no tomorrow. The pair fully expected Koji to break his leg on impact, but the door was burst open like it had merely been leaning there for looks.

"Where the hell did the old man learn that!"

"Questions later! Kick butt now."

Ryu was understandably impressed, as he had fallen prey to the thought that an old man is a feeble one. The reminding proof of the contrary stood triumphantly on the door he had knocked down, the ancestral staff glowing with ghostly energy. A handful of dried soybeans was flung at the foul creature, and the illusion that had cloaked it melted away to reveal a formless darkness pressed backwards in an ineffectual block.

"Demon be gone!"

The American shoved her way past the shell-shocked yet still-ready-to-fight dragon as she went to cover Koji, eager to try some of the demon extermination techniques that she had learned from him. She and the priest distracted the demon the best that they could, while Ryu worked himself in between the dreaming Miko and the demon. Worried about the fact that her friend was sleeping through the entire racket, she looked to see why, only to see that some guardian spirit was using his vital force to shield her from the evil demon and had most likely suffered from some of the attacks judging by some abused looking areas of the shield. BlowingWind missed the faint purple aura immediately surrounding the woman's body like some kind of psychic bodybag.

'That spirit feels more like the one who's been visiting her. This other dude is just another roving dream demon it seems, although a bit stronger than he should be. I bet he ate his spinach.'

"It's not the same spirit! The Haku guy is protecting her."

Two glowing eyes focused on the humans coming against him. He was livid that mere humans thought that they could defeat him, the Demon of Impure Dreams. This Haku's heart stopping good looks and wonderful powers were lost to him now, but that didn't mean he didn't have some good tricks of his own. These two had impure dreams that he could easily use against them, and he was lucky enough to have some sleep powder to make them fall right into them. That should be enough to occupy them so that he could finish his objective, if he could figure out something to take care of the blasted black dragon masquerading as a human. He flung a handful of a purple powder, and a cloud formed around his hapless victims, forcing them into sleep and dropping their bodies heavily to the ground.

"Greatest and Most Secret Desire!"

"What did you do to them?"

"I merely sent them to dream about their greatest or most secret desires. If you let me finish my mission, I will be happy to tell you the strange maiden's."

"Not a chance. I already know both anyway."

Ryu flung himself at the invading entity, who merely dodged the seemingly artless attack. However, that's what Ryu had been counting on, and so he merely grabbed the shadow as he passed by, pulling him along for the ride. The panicked demon struck out with his free hand, but the impact did nothing to affect the pissed off dragon. Ryu merely returned the favor, twisting to drive the demon hard into the pine wood and putting in a few dents, that he hoped Chihiro wouldn't notice.

That was a very slim chance though, considering that when she was the one who did her floor, she got down and polished by hand.

"How are you able to even touch me?"

"I'm a magma dragon. I come from within the dark."

"Please don't kill me. It wasn't my idea. I was supposed to be getting back at a Nigihayami Kohakunushi."

"Who put you up to it?"

"I can't tell. I'd die."

"Looks like you're screwed either way then."

"I can't!"

With that, Ryu snapped the creature's neck, which disappeared as dark will before the searching glow of the dawn. There was an audible sigh to his ears, and he turned in time to see the shield pull into the form of a man. The wandering spirit fell to his knees, shuddering in agony before fading back to his body where he belonged. Grudgingly, Ryu had to admit that maybe this guy making Chihiro moan and keep him awake at night wasn't so bad after all if he would risk his life to stave off the demon on a power trip.

Surveying the room, Ryu saw the mess that had been made, and cringed. He needed to get the humans to their beds, then he needed to clean up before Chihiro woke up. And he had to either fix the door, or come up with a really good story.

* * *

"Master Haku!"

"Is he all right?"

"What happened!"

"Oh! The master!"

Frog men and slug women were all milling around in panic. The blast had echoed through the bath house, and several workers had been dispatched to see what had happened. No one had even known that he had finished his rounds and gone off to do his paperwork until he had been needed to find out what the disturbance was. Once the whole place had been searched and he had not been found, one frog had the bright idea to check his room. Lin had automatically been nominated as the only one brave enough. The master was very touchy about his room, and who knew what the mysterious man had hidden in there.

"Back off and give the kid some air!"

The milling and panicking didn't stop though, and finally Lin had to growl at everyone to show that she meant business. That shocked them enough to make them do it.

"Uhnnnhh."

The weak moan was enough to let her know the idiot was at least coherent enough to feel pain. Surveying him, she knew he was probably in a lot of pain. His clothing was covered in soot, and looked like it had been burned after that, as there were several rather ragged holes in them. Burns were everywhere on his exposed flesh, and there were spikes sticking out of him as well. His head was cracked open again, probably from the wall since there was a nice little blood spot on it.

"Lin! Look here. Looks like something blew up. Whatever it was, his paperwork is toast now. That's gonna piss him off."

"You're worried about his reaction to the paperwork he doesn't want to do for Yubaba anyway? Look at his clothes! He'll be furious for a month!"

The bickering was cut short when Master Haku began to stir again, sitting up and bringing a hand to his head.

"Yubaba."

* * *

I awoke to the sound of irritating nattering, and the distinct sense of way too many bodies in my personal space. My head was pounding, and I felt like somebody had decided to torch me and then use what was left for target practice. Opening my eyes, I realized that I was having trouble focusing, and I briefly wondered what had happened.

It all came rushing back at one. There had been the sense of an intruder, only there had been none. Then I had put down the weapon to fix my door. I was going to de-arm the water orb and reabsorb the water, but for some reason I hadn't. What was the reason?

I had to have fallen asleep or something, and then landed on the dratted thing. Maybe that could explain why I felt like I'd been burnt. But why did I feel like I'd been stabbed? Whatever had happened, I knew Yubaba had been behind it, I had that feeling that I did every time Yubaba had sent me on a dangerous mission. Disposing of the venom, I let her name fall from my lips, in order not to internalize the poison of it.

"Hey buddy, what happened?"

"Lin?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"I think I've got a concussion. There's four of you."

"I wouldn't doubt it. You cracked your head open again. Let's get you to the medical center. You're going to need to be monitored. Can you walk?"

"Yeah. I've been messed up worse."

"I wouldn't doubt it. Next time you want to get messed up, use sake. The after effects are less painful."

I didn't think it was a funny joke. Then again, she was busy pulling out some spikes from my battered body. What happened?

* * *

Yubaba had been watching the proceedings with glee until Sen's friends had interrupted. She hadn't expected the girl to put up such a good fight. Still, she had sensed that Zeniba had somehow protected the girl, warned her somehow of the difference between the spirit who had gone to her and the one she loved. The fact that her apprentice had sent his life force to protect her had been a bold move on his part, although also a great liability. She had hoped that her summoned demon would have been more successful.

Who were those three that had burst into the dark room to save her? Stranger still, how had they known Haku? How was he able to visit her, when he had been either here or on assigned missions? Then she remembered how her sister had said his spirit was looking for its missing piece or pieces. It was strange, but was Sen somehow a part of him?

She bent closer over the crystal to find the answers to these questions, when the faces of five dragons filled the globe. Each glared at her, and she knew that where the Council was, they knew of what she had done. One dragon looked particularly angered, great blizzards raging behind him. She saw him open his mouth, pursing his lips to exhale a great gust. Yubaba's dark eyes opened wide in denial that her plan had failed and at what was about to happen.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The crystal ball shattered into at least a million pieces, sending sprays of it to whip about the room in fierce winds driving piercing snow. Within moments, her office was filled with the water crystals, shards of her precious gazing ball now hopelessly lost and scattered.

Haku had won, and now she was under scrutiny by one of the most powerful groups in the spirit world.

* * *

In the morning back in the apartment:

"What happened to my door? Woah. Why is the kitchen flooded?"

Ryu, looking up from his task of cleaning up the water that had been birthed from a broken pipe, grunted before continuing. He was very glad that he had gotten her room clean, and found the busted pipe and repaired it already.

"Shoddy construction."

* * *

I couldn't resist poking a little fun at how deep Chihiro sleeps. I mean, she managed to sleep through all the commontion of everyone else getting up at the bath house, why not a fight?

Next chapter takes us on into 'Rivers Never Die' and parts of the chapter tackle the first part from a slightly different angle. There is some new info in it though that should make it worth the read.

Reviewer's Corner:

KatsyKat - Yeah, some witch, huh? Of course Ryu comes to the rescue! His nose (and probably other parts) would be in mortal peril otherwise.

NitenGale - Nope, he can't really do much of a spell from another world, unless he attacks the spellcaster herself. He can teleport stuff, be felt, but just wasn't there enough to figure out what he should have done (banish the demon, he could have done that). Good thing Ryu and the gang were there. Glad that you're recovered.

Sakura Arielle - Well now we found out why the demon couldn't get in her dream, and Haku just slips right in. Did the button work this time?


	21. Returning Home and Addendum

Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 21: Returning Home

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.

Note at bottom! May be important for those just beginning to read my works.

* * *

I still hadn't figured out what happened when I woke up in my room to find it and myself a complete disaster, but I knew it had something to do with Yubaba. At least I was healed though, and I would be getting out of here soon. Tomorrow, in fact.

Tomorrow was the day that I had dreamed of for so long. I would be free from that evil witch, and I would go to find my friend to keep my promise.

Nervous would have been an understatement as to how I felt. What if she didn't remember me? What if she had a boyfriend? What if all I could do was guard her, and despite being in her world, she would never see me, never rest safely inside my coils?

That was a terrifying thought.

I had been trying to pay attention to what Yubaba was telling me, but it was difficult. I kept feeling something pull at me, and wished that I had my sword on my waist right now. The constant pulling was not nearly so insistent when it was with me. It was like when I would fade, but different at the same time. It was more closely related to that intuitive flash which one receives before danger strikes.

Suddenly, things went black. When I could see and feel again, I was standing beside a channel dug deeply into the ground. Amaterasu's warm rays kissed by back, and a friendly wind kami fluttered my hair and clothes. It was peaceful here, despite the fact that 64 people were industriously buzzing about to lengthen the channel. Studying it, it reminded me of the way my river would probably have looked during a drought. Even the surrounding land looked familiar to me.

The wind stirred my clothes again, but they were not what I was accustomed to wearing. They were far more ornate, much more formal. It occurred to me that they were very much like the ones that I had worn when my river was still flowing. A sheet of night nearly as long as my arm danced past my eyes for but a moment, then swept away again to reveal the focus of the scene.

'Odd.'

The hot sun beat down on chestnut hair that billowed in a plumed dragon's tail at the back of the head. This rich hair was held in a semblance of order, no thanks to her hard work and the teasing wind, with a shimmer of purple light. The purity of snow bound her breast and creamy arms from my sight with crane's wings, and the fire of life obscured her legs in casing of flame. I tried to see her soul, but it spun so swiftly and shone so brightly during her absorbment that all I saw was white light.

I noticed a thin and weak man with hair of shining gold slowly working his way closer to her as she dug, his hand outstretched and target clear. In defense of her honor, I threw a hand-sized rock hard, grinning in satisfaction when I hit my own target. The sun glinted off of my predator's teeth, and the young man seemed to see me for but a moment, squeaking and retreating back to his own work section.

The woman in Miko garb looked up at the sun, pulled out of some reverie like she had sensed my presence. Or possibly only the coward's noise had pulled her out of her pure Shrine Maiden's meditative thoughts. At any rate, her face was averted from me, which I found highly vexing.

'Who is she?'

"Hey, lunch time everyone!"

The deep velvet of her voice was augmented by the chirping strains of a songbird as she shouted to her fellows. She seemed to be the leader of this group, and I had no idea that Miko still ran these lands. Then again, I wasn't really much when it came to paying attention to shifting human governments. Throaty bellows of approval was the group's answer to her.

The melodious laughter that welled from her throat made me think of my Chihiro, and my gaze softened. Soon, I would see her again.

"Soon."

* * *

Unnoticed, the wind kami fluttered by the young man to grab the word before it reached the Miko's ear. She had already sensed the presence of the spirit, as it is what had pulled her from the thoughts of the river that always seemed to occupy her brain. However, she still remembered nothing of her time in the Spirit World, and the time had not yet come for her to remember.

The transparent form of the wind smirked as he lifted a female digger's shorts a little higher to distract the dark dragon who insisted on disguising himself as a human. Ryu was very easy to make trip, the secret was all in how much of BlowingWind's thigh he could expose to the man.

The smirk quickly fell into a frown as he remembered seeing the river lord sacrifice himself for the child and the area. That had been the most disturbing thing he had ever witnessed, and he had seen countless crimes, slaughters and wars.

The fractured spirit that was a part of Kohakunushi had been correct though. It would be soon. Soon the girl would remember, soon the river would be given back, soon the river's lord could be healed.

Everything would start tomorrow, in fact. The wind kami had delivered that news himself from the Dragon's Council to the chosen messenger of where the man's river was to be.

A hawk circled over where a Miko and her friends sat eating, and dropped a little bomb onto the head of the Spanish man he had also seen eyeing the Miko's form. Part landed on his golden rings of curls, but most ended up in the man's cheese sandwich. With a satisfied cry, the hawk faded back into a current of wind. It had taken up a lot of energy to do that, but it was definitely worth it.

Back in Aburaya, Kohaku fell through darkness, fading back into composure, and landing on his knees in Yubaba's office. While the man finished his business with the witch, the winds at the Kohakugawa picked up.

Below a spring, in a dark cavern, a stately form faded back into existence. Vast curtains of blackest midnight hid the face from view, and the clothing on the figure threatened to waver back into mere water. Labored breath noisily cut through the pensive silence, and the trembling arms he had supported himself with gave way. The Lord hit the floor with a slap of flesh, while a broad pair of dark hands turned him onto his back.

"Nushi, you have to quit that. You won't do her any good if you kill yourself before you are healed."

"I felt him though, and he was so close. I had to try. For her."

"Well, they do say that love makes one do crazy things. But that was just stupid Nushi."

"It almost worked though. There just wasn't anything to tie us together again."

"And you used to always tell me to be patient. Go get some rest."

* * *

The sky slowly changed its robe from the bright blue and white silks of day into the dark velvets of dusk, and then night. Throughout the night time, she whirled while the workers of a certain bath house scrubbed and cleaned, the diamonds of stars sparkling from hem and hair in her dance. Night passed on, and within a few hours would give way again to cheerful silk, and a dragon laid down in his room for the last time, to catch a few hours of elusive rest. His eyes slid shut, and soon his body and soul disengaged to roam through the dream world, dreaming of a lost love.

Kohaku stood at the edge of a campground, observing the people he had seen earlier. Most seemed to share his nationality, but others . . . were most definitely foreign. Unnoticed by the campers, his emeralds sparkled out of the night, scanning for some reason as to why he was dreaming this instead of divinely moist eyes that threatened to drown him in their pools. The blanket on his arm went unnoticed as he was drawn to a figure slumped over by a fire.

Rich brown hair cascaded from the back of her head, the coloration of her clothing announcing her as the Miko from his previous vision. Obviously, the poor thing had worn herself out during her hard work day, and had fallen asleep before she could eat the dinner she had cooked. It was reproachfully charring away over the fire still.

The chuckle of a shallow stream bubbled from within his chest at the sight, even at the threshold of adulthood the woman retained a sense of childishness. Carefully, he wrapped the woman in his blanket, and carried her to a sleeping area.

"You can sleep just about anywhere can't you?"

A mumble and sigh from her were the answers. As she snuggled her face into his chest as they walked, he felt his heart begin to flutter. He knew this smell filling his nose, knew who it probably was, but he would not remember her face when he woke, he hadn't for a long time now.

Something always seemed to block it, even if he were to brush those untamed bangs out of her eyes, he would not remember the cherubic face he adored. The filters of his waking mind would deny what the soul knew as truth.

"Haku."

He laid her down on a sleeping mat that was soaked in her scent, and tucked the blanket more securely around her, before he faded into complete sleep and past the state where his soul could travel to his Heart.

By the fire, there was a hiss as tea was poured onto hot coals, and confused voices.

"Ryu, did you spike the tea?"

"No, I didn't Koji."

"Who was that man?"

"Did anybody notice he looked like 'The Apartment Ghost?' That's just creepy!"

"It's even worse than that! He was carrying my granddaughter without my permission!"

"Calm down Koji-san. He's probably just a new recruit."

"In old clothes like that? I agree with the old Priest. I don't want her carrying my woman."

"Hey, I dress in traditional garb, thank you very much young man! And I'm the eldest Ogino in her family, and I don't remember promising her to you."

"Hey, Queso, leave Koji and Chihiro alone, or I'll sic Ryuon you. It's probably just another volunteer from another Shrine."

"Are you sure you didn't spike the tea?"

"Yes!"

"Ah-ha! You admit it!"

"No! I meant I didn't spike the tea!"

"Sure, Ryu."

"We believe you, dear . . . as far as I can throw you."

"Really? Good, because you're pretty strong for a girl BlowingWind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh-oh! Uh! 'Night honey!"

The camp erupted in yet another uproar as the Irish / Native American hurled herself across the campfire to extract her retribution. He'd gotten himself into trouble again.

* * *

Back in his room, a young dragon curled in his 'nest', trying to keep warm. He hadn't slept without a blanket for a very long time, and was going to be unhappy when he discovered it was missing in the morning.

Time passed quickly once he awoke. The messenger that knew where his river was had turned out to be Zeniba. He had even let Kaonashi work out his aggressions for winning Chihiro's heart. Apparently, Chihiro had grown up quite a lot since the last time he had truly seen her, and she was responsible for bringing it back to him. No words could describe the emotions that he felt as he flew home.

Home. That word had so many meanings for him now. Every meaning had been provided for him by the little human who had been brought to him so long ago for a blessing. He could remember that now, on a night where the stars were jewels in the sky, and man stealing down to him in secret. The same child had fallen into his river on her third birthday, then returned to him again in her tenth year. It seemed that she had always come to him, and now, he was going to her as his refuge.

He had reached the area around the spring that had fed him in his previous life. He would freely call it his past life, as he was soon to receive a new birth of sorts from the maiden. There was a very good reason that rivers never died. His was Chihiro.

There, beneath a tree, wind stirring her about slightly, was a poignant beauty. She was so familiar, and yet so different, that he didn't know rightly who it was. White snow and red flame clung tightly against the body thanks to the morning dew weighting it, revealing a slender form. The Miko looked almost like his Chihiro, but that would have been a silly thing to expect. One delicate hand held a single white rose, bringing forth a tide of jealousy within him. The other hand brought a very familiar type of onigiri to rosy lips, even the magic lacing them looking like his own.

He both wondered who would be giving his Chosen flowers, and somehow knew the answer within himself. The magic in the flower in rice was too familiar, but he wasn't sure he was ready to accept the implications.

Grey eyes held a note of question as velvet words spilled from her mouth. Obviously they were meant only for herself, but the fetching blush on her cheeks as she pondered her thoughts caused him to lean out further from behind the tree, nearly toppling him over when the tint of cherry in her scent gained a spiced note. Stomping down the response that he felt brewing within himself, he instead tried to bring back the much safer jealousy as she admitted an attraction for this mysterious gift giver.

An unidentified streak came from the right, bowling over his innocent maiden. Two teasing voices assaulted his ears, then they were graced with a fiery retort. The spice in her scent rose to a new high, addling the poor dragon's brains and making it nearly impossible to think straight until she had left, still muttering to herself about guys thinking they could just win her over with rice, flowers and music.

As she passed his hiding spot, he felt the urge to grab her, but a swift kick to Haku's groin from the ever-helpful Nigihayami within his head quickly quashed that desire. Lost in her thoughts, she paused next to the tree that he had now scrambled into in order to avoid her gaze. His breath was taken away as he watched the braid of hair that now held her rose as it swung with her denial.

"My life must be a soap opera or something."

'I don't know what a soap opera is, Chihiro. However, if it's anything like a play where too much drama and confusion are normal, then that would make two of us.'

(Whatever god she's serving, he'd better keep his hands off her.)

'Exactly.'

((He can't touch her if we get her first. We are her Guardian after all.))

'Do you realize how wrong that sounds?'

(I think it sounds just right to me.)

'That's it, I'm not talking to myself any more.'

He still didn't know how he was going to work himself back into her life, but the promise of a river was something that he had to keep. Stealthily, he followed her to where she met a strangely familiar old man. It took a while to place the scent, but when he recognized it as the Priest who had once brought his only grandchild for a blessing, the young Lord recoiled at the toll Time had taken.

The others were laughing at the old man's rants about demons, but in Kohaku, a note of panic and fear wove about a memory still buried in deep shadow.

"No, no demons carried me off, and I don't think I met a ghost."

Realizing that the two clergy members were going back to the spring, Kohaku quickly stole back as well. If they were going to do anything, he had to be there to keep his charge safe. Especially if there was a possibility of demons in the area.

As their chants grew in volume, echoing louder through the forest than what one could assume mortal throats would easily accomplish, the sword that was hidden in the large pack on his back began to emit a high steady tone, too high and pure for mortal to hear. An answering tone blended in with the chants from below the spring, and it was all he could do to not run to the chanting maid and stand before her. The polite summons and welcoming back pulled at his very soul, but fear held him back. After a while, they fell silent, surveying the pool and woods about them carefully, as if they expected something to strike them down where they stood, pop out from the spring, or crawl out from under some rock.

"Did we do the ritual wrong?"

"No, it was done right, but he's already awake. Something isn't quite right though. This feels . . . almost divided. Maybe he's sad, or hurt? It doesn't feel like he's angry, that one you can't mistake. If the river is his body, maybe he's waiting for it. Should we start opening the spring more, perhaps that will set the energy at ease?"

'So, my body is ready for my blood then. This is the perfect way to get back into her life.'

He did get back into her life, and kept his promise within the very same day of his arrival. There was just one problem, he still had to get her to remember who he really was, which he had expected anyway. What he hadn't expected was how well she could catch him off guard, or how much her scent could distract him. Unconsciously, he became addicted to the spice that would mingle with the smell of his river and her cherries when she was angry or determined. It was a trait that was inherent in all dragon kind.

Maybe that was what caused him to pull her into the spring with him after she had essentially ripped off his face and ground it into the dirt. Or maybe Haku and Nigihayami just really wanted to see her wet. At any rate, he was now on an adventure to awaken her hidden memories, and maybe even take back a lost part of himself if he was lucky.

* * *

**Here is where we end 'Promise of a River,' which this chapter overlaps a tiny bit with 'Rivers Never Die.' 'Rivers Never Die' is the continuation along this line, followed by 'Rivers Keep Flowing.'** An end is always a beginning, after all.

**I repeat, this book in the Rivers and Promises Continuity inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is finished. To read the next book in the series, go to my bio by clicking on my pen name. There are several books in the series, and a collection of short stories to accompany them.**

**To be notified of when I update any of the books in this series, add me to your author alert list.**

Replies

fallen-rose15 - Sorry, the book is finished, read the next in the series. You'll like it. You find the reason I ended where it did. You can thank J.R.R. Tolkien though, he ended his books in similar manner.


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